


Love is Strange

by misspamela



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Dirty Dancing AU, M/M, dance instructor minghao, summertime fun, wide eyed tourist seokmin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24081640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misspamela/pseuds/misspamela
Summary: Just before the end of class, Minghao called out in front of everyone, “Seokmin-ssi, could you repeat that last formation we learned?”Seokmin felt his cheeks flush. Had Minghao noticed him singing? Was he calling him out just to embarrass him? “Me?” Seokmin asked, pointing to himself and looking around. “Did I do something wrong, teacher?”No,” Minghao answered, a small smile playing around his mouth. “I’m just asking because you looked so handsome doing it.”
Relationships: Lee Seokmin | DK/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 63
Kudos: 181
Collections: Seventeen Rare Pair Fest: Round 1





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [SVTRarePairFest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SVTRarePairFest) collection. 



> This is for the Dirty Dancing AU prompt! It is going to be more faithful to the spirit, rather than the specifics of Dirty Dancing (the movie), because that was set in a really specific place and time and this is set in another, but I hope it works for you! 
> 
> The story will have 4 chapters and ch 2 is already partly written. I can't promise a specific posting schedule, but I've never left a WIP unfinished. 
> 
> Huge thanks to the mods and to K for betaing!

Hainan was hot. Seokmin had imagined that getting out of the crowded, choking air of Seoul and into beautiful island breezes would be a refreshing change, but the sun beat down on him relentlessly, unhindered by any clouds, and within seconds his whole shirt was soaked with sweat. 

He wasn’t about to complain; his parents had been saving up for this vacation for a while, and he was grateful to have two whole weeks away from work and worry about school, but it was just. Really really hot.

If they could just get to the resort, there was air conditioning waiting for him, but his mother was very, very slowly checking through her purse for their reservation -- which she had _printed_ , like it was 1998 or something -- and Seokmin wanted to die. Or melt. Whatever came first. 

“I’m going to die,” his sister hissed. “I’m literally going to sweat to death.” 

“I’m too hot to talk,” Seokmin said without opening his eyes. “I’m not talking right now, you’re hearing a psychic projection.”

“Wow, you can’t shut up even when you’re not talking,” his sister said. “What a shock.” Her tone wasn’t as harsh as her words though, and she handed him a bottle of water from her bag. “Here. Don’t die.”

“Thanks, noona.” Seokmin took the water and drained the whole thing in two gulps.

“Seokmin-ah” his father called. “Do you think there are bus schedules on my phone? Or are they on your phone?”

Seokmin sighed, deep and heavy, and pulled out his phone.

********

Eventually, they made it on a bus and then to the resort itself, a shining cluster of silver buildings, 20 or 30 stories high, circling around a bright blue bay. Palm trees waved lazily in the sluggish breeze and the beaches were dotted with umbrellas. It looked right out of the promotional pictures his mother had shown him. 

Seokmin hadn’t really wanted to come; school was stressing him out and he should be home working on his audition song for _Excalibur_ , but this was his parents’ dream, and he couldn’t really say no. But now that he was here, Seokmin felt something inside himself unwind a little. Maybe a little break would do him good. Maybe resting and recharging would put him in a better space.

He leaned over to poke his head between his parents’ seats. “This place is beautiful,” he said. “Thank you for taking us.” 

“It was your mother’s idea,” was all his father said, but they both looked pleased. 

They had a suite of rooms, one with two beds that Seokmin was sharing with his sister and another for his parents, with a connected sitting room. Each suite had its own bathroom. “Noona, you pick what bed,” Seokmin called into the bathroom, where she was setting up her toiletries.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said dismissively. “What’s important is that you’re going to cover for me when I don’t _need_ the bed.” Her head popped out of the bathroom and she stared at him meaningfully. 

He had no idea what she was talking about. “Um.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Just because you’re a perfect little angel who doesn’t hook up with like, anyone ever, please don’t ruin it for me.” 

“Oh yeah, right.” A perfect angel. Right. The familiar sodden guilt tugged at his stomach. _I’d hook up, but it would be with boys_ , he thought at her. _Would you care?_ He didn’t think she would. But he hadn’t been brave enough to tell her yet. “Don’t worry, I’ll cover.” Something -- a little brave, a little rebellious -- also made him say, “And you’ll cover for me too, right?”

“Cover for you?” she asked, ruffling his hair as she came out of the bathroom. “I’ll throw you a party.”

*****

Seokmin’s parents wanted him to participate in the vacation and “get out, meet someone” and by someone they meant some girl, which wasn’t happening. But Seokmin wasn’t ready to have that conversation, and certainly not on this big family trip, so he’d picked a dance class, which he figured would help him land more theater roles. He could move okay and he was in shape, he just really hadn’t had much formal dance training. 

There were two ballroom dancing classes and two “mixed movement” classes that looked like they were a fitness thing. The concierge at the front desk told him that the instructor for the ballroom classes, Xu Minghao, spoke Korean, which was great because Seokmin’s Mandarin was limited to ordering coffee and asking where the bathroom was. 

The class was in a ballroom on the third floor with big windows looking out over the ocean, glittering green-blue stretching out under the bright midday sun. It was so nice and so pretty that Seokmin couldn’t do anything but stare at it for the first few seconds he walked in. “Wow,” he said happily. “That’s so nice.” 

“It’s the best part about teaching here,” said someone behind him, in slightly accented Korean. Seokmin turned to see a boy about his own age, handsome and cool-looking, with longish black hair. He assumed this was Xu Mingaho. “The view never gets old.” 

“Hello,” Seokmin greeted him. “You must be the teacher? I’m Lee Seokmin.”

Xu Minghao smiled, a polite, fleeting thing. He nodded his head at Seokmin and looked him up and down. Seokmin tried not to fidget. His face felt very warm. “Welcome,” he finally said. “Please stretch while everyone gets in place.”

Seokmin wasn’t sure what “in place” meant, exactly, but there was an older woman already stretching on a towel near one of the windows, so Seokmin sat next to her and started going through his own basic stretches. The class itself was billed as a mixture of ballroom and jazz, and Seokmin expected to possibly be the youngest person there, but there was a group of girls around his own age, as well as couples of all ages. He watched as they all came in, talking together. He hoped that maybe he could get to know someone here; it was going to be a long two weeks if he didn’t make any friends.

Minghao walked to the front of the class, silhouetted in front of the bright sea and sky. He had on a loose t-shirt and sweatpants that didn’t look like the ones Seokmin had at home; they looked expensive. 

“Everyone ready? Let’s get started.” 

The class was pretty easy to start with; Seokmin had some movement training for theater and had done some choreographed fight scenes. He was reasonably in shape and could follow instructions well, so he kept up okay. 

Some people in the class had clearly had some dance training before; they made the various movements look elegant and graceful, rather than serviceable. Seokmin just focused on hitting the beats on time and not making a fool out of himself. 

It was hard not to just stare at Minghao, who was poised and firm in the front of the class, correcting students with almost terse comments, but giving encouragement in quiet tones. Seokmin could have watched him all day. There was something unbelievably compelling about him. 

_Don’t be an idiot_ , he told himself. _You also just think he’s hot._

Teacher Minghao didn’t get any less hot throughout the class. At one point, he came up to Seokmin and said, admiringly, “Do you have any training? Not dance, but sports, maybe?” 

“Fencing, a little. For theater.” That was a complete answer, but never let it be said that Seokmin wouldn’t take the chance to just keep talking when it was offered. “That’s why I’m taking the class, actually. So I can do a little better with moving my body on stage.” Minghao nodded politely, but didn’t look like he wanted to run, which was maybe why Seokmin’s mouth just kept going. “My mom thinks I’m here to meet girls, but I’m not, haha. Just uh, you know! Theater.” 

“Well,” Minghao said, a smile creeping across his face like he couldn’t quite help himself. “Seokmin-ssi, you’re handsome enough for either theater or meeting girls, that’s for sure.” With a wink, he walked off to talk to one of the middle aged women in the row behind Seokmin.  
The only question on the table right now was whether Seokmin was going to die of embarrassment over his own behavior or from Minghao calling him handsome. And winking? How was he going to survive the Thursday class? 

Somehow, in the span of an hour, Seokmin went from noticing that the teacher was kind of good looking to having the kind of weak-kneed, heart-fluttering crush that he’d only had a few times before.

Developing a crush on his dance instructor on day one of his vacation? Good one, Seokmin. Nice job. After class, he immediately fled and texted Jeonghan. _hyung i’m in crisis. LOVE crisis_

There was no response for over an hour, while Seokmin rinsed off in the shower, changed into swimming trunks, and headed down to meet his family at one of the resort’s pools. When he got there, his father was already asleep under the umbrella, a book on his chest, while his mother was helping his sister reapply sunscreen to her back. 

“How was class?” His mother asked, only half paying attention to him. 

“It was, you know! Wow.” Seokmin tried to think of a chill and normal way that someone would talk about their teacher that they didn’t have a crush on. “It was, uh, a class! I danced. Okay gonna go swim now, bye.” 

He didn’t miss the suspicious look his sister was giving him, but he ran off to go float in his feelings for a while. It was beautiful here, the chatter of the crowd fading to a low hum in the background as he drifted in the water, feeling the warmth of the sun beating down on him. His front was a little sweaty and his toes were nice and cool in the water, and he let his mind drift to the conversation he’d had with his sister last night. 

He’d had crushes before, of course. And he’d dated, a little bit here and there, but somehow that always ended with the guys being his friends and not really working out romantically. Seokmin loved his friends, and he hadn’t been interested in pursuing romantic relationships with them either, but he’d been thinking lately that maybe it would be nice if he could find someone who didn’t see him as a new best buddy right off the bat. 

Of course he was crushing on the first cute guy he saw. And if Minghao was kind, polite, and strict in a really sexy way, well, he was like that with everyone. And maybe he did call Seokmin handsome, but that could just be politeness as well! The clear issue here was that Seokmin needed a boyfriend, generally, and it wasn’t going to be Minghao --- a stranger who lived in _another country_ \-- so it was really for the best for Seokmin to just kill the whole crush situation right now. 

By the time he got out of the pool, he had a message from Jeonghan. _you’ve been in china for like a day, how can you have a love crisis_

Seokmin sighed. _there’s a dance teacher, he’s so beautiful and perfect and friendly_ He sent the message, then started typing another one to explain to Jeonghan not to worry, he’d thought about it in the pool and he was going to just ignore his crush and be mature. As he typed, he could see that Jeonghan was answering, and halfway through typing out his message, a response popped up:

_ok, bone him then_

Seokmin nearly dropped his phone. He looked over to where his father was still sleeping and turned away, just in case his dad had the ability to psychically know when his son was talking about boning dudes. _i was going to be mature and forget about him!!!_

_my dear, sweet, precious fool, i love you and nobody deserves a filthy hot summer fling like you do. go forth and get that ass_

That presumed that Seokmin was capable of being sexy-flirty rather than friendly flirty, and that someone as hot as Minghao would look twice at him, and that Seokmin was the kind of person to have a summer fling, for god’s sake. 

Jeonghan was probably just teasing him again. 

_don’t tease me hyung_

His response was immediate. 

_not about this, seokmin-ah. hyung loves you, you deserve some fun because you always work so hard_

Seokmin's breath caught in his throat. He was touched. It had been a rough year, being rejected from a few acting gigs, struggling with feeling alienated from his family as he kept more and more from them about his social life and political beliefs. He’d tried to keep it to himself, put on a happy face as usual, but Jeonghan always had a way of seeing through him.

_anyway, send nudes! hyung is rooting for you! fighting!_

Seokmin snapped a picture of himself, shirtless and still damp from the pool, and sent it to Jeonghan. That was as nude as he was going to get, thank you very much, no matter what Jeonghan thought about his prospects with Minghao. 

Jeonghan was just being Jeonghan, and that was that. 

*****

“Okay, everyone pair up, please,” Minghao announced, clasping his hands together. “We have an even number, so everyone should have a partner.” 

Seokmin turned to the woman next to him, but she was already reaching for the man next to her, who Seokmin belatedly realized was her husband. Across the room, one of the girls around his age was looking at him, smiling and blushing. Ah. Well, she had no way of knowing that she had no chance with him, and she looked graceful and athletic in a way that he hoped translated into dancing well. 

He was about to cross the room and talk to her, when he noticed Minghao taking the hands of an elderly woman who looked distressed. She was Korean, and Seokmin caught her words as he walked near them. “...so much younger than me, I don’t want to slow these young people down, I’ll just sit out…” 

Seokmin changed course away from the girl and toward Minghao and the woman. He was struck by how soft and kind Minghao’s face was, holding her hands gently like she was precious, so unlike how he’d looked during class. “Excuse me grandmother,” Seokmin said, bowing. “Would you please be my partner for the dance?” 

Minghao looked at him, eyebrows raised, as did the woman. She was wearing a matching dark pink velour tracksuit, with heavy rings on each finger. Her salt and pepper hair was permed tightly in a halo around her head and her lipstick matched her outfit. The expression on her face was openly skeptical and a little challenging, and Seokmin wanted to be her friend. “I’m a little inexperienced,” he said, darting a glance toward the group of girls, who were all doing various kinds of very athletic-looking stretches. “A lot inexperienced,” he admitted. “I’ve never done this before.” 

“Well,” she said, her demeanor changing instantly. She looked him up and down critically, all trace of distress gone from her voice. “My late husband and I danced every weekend for forty years. Try to keep up.” 

Behind her, Minghao was grinning from ear to ear and Seokmin found himself doing the same. “Yes, grandmother,” he said quickly. “I’ll do my best.”

She walked away to get her water bottle, and Minghao stepped closer to Seokmin. He was around the same height, Seokmin knew that, but somehow the energy he radiated made Seokmin feel very small. “What a scammer. She’s going to dance circles around you if you don’t pay attention,” he said, smiling. “Make her proud.” 

Seokmin’s mouth was dry. It felt ten degrees hotter suddenly, and his shirt started to stick to his back. “I’ll try my hardest,” he said. “But I think she got the raw end of the deal.” 

“Are you kidding?” Minghao snorted. “She’s dancing with the most handsome guy in the room.” Before Seokmin had a chance to process that, Minghao clapped his hands loudly and said, “Okay, everyone should have a partner! Line up with your partner in two rows, two _even_ rows, please!”

Yeo Chunja was as good as she’d promised, sharp in her movements, only slightly slowed and stiff with age. She kept up a steady stream of conversation as they danced: correcting his form, criticizing his posture, complimenting his handsome face, asking him if he had a girlfriend. Seokmin tried to answer as best as he could while counting the beats, which she never had to do. She stumbled once, her ankle giving out from under her, and he took her weight as best he could, saying, “I’m sorry, grandmother, I’m too clumsy.”

She snorted. “You’re too charming, that’s your problem. Too smooth with that pretty face. Do you sing?”

Seokmin blinked at the change of subject. “Yes? Yes, I do.”

“You’ve been humming along the whole time.” Seokmin hadn’t realized it. “It’s lovely, I can tell you must have a lovely voice.” 

“Well then,” he said, brightening up. “I'll sing a little louder for you, if you’d like.”

He sang for the rest of the class, not loud enough to be disturbing (he hoped) but just loud enough for her to hear. She smiled and hummed along, and Seokmin felt so good and light. This was what he wanted to do with his life, he wanted to make people happy with his voice. 

It was so clear to him, and so good, it was worth all the stress of dealing with failed auditions and missed opportunities and probably never dating if he actually made it into the public eye. 

This feeling...this feeling was better than _anything_. It was nice to remember that. 

Just before the end of class, Minghao called out in front of everyone, “Seokmin-ssi, could you repeat that last formation we learned?” 

Seokmin felt his cheeks flush. Had Minghao noticed him singing? Was he calling him out just to embarrass him? “Me?” Seokmin asked, pointing to himself and looking around. “Did I do something wrong, teacher?”

No,” Minghao answered, a small smile playing around his mouth. “I’m just asking because you looked so handsome doing it.” 

A few of the girls in the class giggled. Seokmin could feel the back of his neck heat up, but he held his head high. He was a performer, wasn’t he? And that meant performing under pressure. So he repeated the routine again, focusing on nothing but the music, the steps, the position of his arms.

“See?” Minghao addressed the class. “Doesn’t he do that nicely? It’s good to end with something pretty to look at.”

Seokmin was so flustered from the end of class that he went all the way down to the lobby when he realized he’d left his water bottle back in the dance class. He could just get it when he went to the next class, but it was hot and humid enough outside that he didn’t love the idea of even walking over to the main resort building without water. He was already dehydrated from class. 

The elevator was kind of full, so Seokmin let one of the housekeeping staff on ahead of him; he figured she had work to do and that was more important. He could wait. 

When he finally got back up to the room, he expected it to be dark and empty, but it wasn’t. Minghao was there, dancing. He was moving like nothing Seokmin had ever seen before; long and graceful, hands outstretched in front of him. Seokmin didn’t think anyone could move like that. He didn’t know how someone who looked like Minghao and who could dance like water...how did he end up teaching a bunch of sweaty tourists?

Seokmin didn’t mean to stare, but he couldn’t look away if he tried. 

Minghao noticed him in the mirror and acknowledged him with a lift of his eyebrows before launching into a graceful flip, his legs arcing one after another to the ground, perfectly controlled. Seokmin’s mouth went dry. 

“Sorry,” he said, as Minghao approached. He had a towel in his hand and was blotting the sweat off his face. “I left my water bottle and-- wow, that was amazing.” Someone else could have sounded cool and casual but Seokmin knew himself. He’d never played it cool a day in his life and he wasn’t going to start now. 

To his surprise, Minghao looked shyly pleased at his compliment, rather than annoyed at his enthusiasm. “Thanks, it’s for a performance I have coming up in a few weeks. There’s a big--” he stopped himself. “Sorry, you were looking for your water, Seokmin-ssi? If it’s the silver bottle, it’s over there.” 

Right, yeah, water. Seokmin glanced at it. “I’d love to hear more about your performance, if you have time. I was going to grab some ice cream?” He scratched the back of his head, suddenly feeling embarrassed for some reason he couldn’t quite identify. “You could come with me, if you wanted. We could eat and you could tell me about your performance?” He smiled wide, trying to look as friendly as possible. “I’m a good listener.”

Minghao froze in the middle of draping the towel around his neck and his eyebrows went up even further. He seemed to be assessing Seokmin for something, but for what he had no idea. Seokmin defaulted to just smiling at him, because he wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to do. “Oh sorry, unless you’re busy?” 

“I’m not busy,” Minghao said dryly. A slow, small smile crept along his face. “But as much as I would like to get ice cream with you, I’m not supposed to _spend time_ with the guests if they’re in my class.” He was giving Seokmin a significant look. 

Seokmin just looked back at him. 

Minghao waited, still looking. “It's common,” he said carefully, “for wealthy guests to treat staff casually. For just some summer fun. Not that I think that you’d be like that, but my boss has seen enough pent-up university boys and girls looking for a release to set some pretty firm ground rules.”

“Sure, I got it, no problem.” Seokmin got it, there were rules, but it was weird that they couldn’t just hang out. Seokmin wanted to correct Minhgao’s assumption that he was rich, but then he thought that maybe a dance instructor didn't want to hear about his dad who was only a CFO, not a CEO. 

The whole thing was strange, he felt like he’d stumbled into uncharted territory without warning. The atmosphere between them was tense and weighty, and there was something just out of reach in his mind. “I shouldn’t have asked, I overstepped.” 

“No, I’m glad you asked,” Minghao said with a crooked little smile. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t say yes.” He tipped his chin down and looked up at Seokmin through his bangs. “Maybe when class is over?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” They just had two more classes to go. He could wait that long. “Well um, bye. Sorry again for interrupting.” 

Seokmin made his way down to the poolside bar, shaded in waving palm trees and staffed by cheerful men in tropical shirts. There were lounge chairs spread out around the area with a good view of one of the smaller pools, as well as the ocean beyond. Snacks and treats were laid out buffet-style, on carved wooden boats nestled in ice. 

Bypassing the liquor completely because he was too hot and dehydrated for anything but water, Seokmin went straight to the dessert area and loaded up a dish. He was on autopilot, still puzzling over that interaction with Minghao. He hadn’t seemed like he was blowing Seokmin off, not really. If he’d shut him down, that would be understandable. But he’d seemed like he’d almost regretted it.

It wasn’t until he’d downed the rest of his water and had eaten half his ice cream that his brain came back online. Low blood sugar? Dehydration? Whatever his excuse was, he was devouring a massive bite of melon ice cream topped with shaved coconut and he realized that _holy shit Minghao thought he was asking him out_.

He’d thought -- oh no. He’d thought the ice cream was a _metaphor_. Oh no, no, no. Jeonghan was never going to let him live this down.

Before he even had time to be embarrassed about _that_ , Seokmin had a second, world-shaking revelation that Minghao was going to say yes, or might have considered saying yes, if he wasn’t in the class, and that maybe possibly they could go out in the future? After the class was over? Oh god. 

Seokmin was going to have a heart attack before the next class. Just fall over dead of embarrassment. Excitement. Embarrassed excitement. 

Whatever it was, he wasn't going to make it.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which DK does not, unfortunately, carry a watermelon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, but work got really crazy. Huge thanks to rei for her quick beta and kelli for cheerleading!

Seokmin was sitting on his bed scrolling through his phone, just kind of killing time after a long morning swimming, while Heejin flitted around the room, fussing with her hair and makeup. He wasn’t sure how many bags of creams and bottles and palettes she brought with her, but it seemed like a lot. She was really into that stuff though, and really good at it. 

“I met some people, so I probably won’t be around much.” Seokmin’s sister sighed happily. “I was talking to this unnie here from Incheon and she was here with some friends, and some of _those_ friends have brothers.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “I’m going to a beach party with them tonight.” 

“Well, be careful, okay, noona? Don’t go swimming drunk or anything.” Seokmin thought, briefly about telling his sister about Minghao, then immediately squashed that thought. He had class in an hour, and he was having a hard time thinking about anything else.

“Of course not, I’m just going to hang out, have a few drinks, look at the stars, flirt with some boys. Yerin-unnie has this surf instructor she has her eye on, which is such a cliche, but, you know. He’s hot. I get it.” 

Even though she wasn’t talking about him, Seokmin felt a little uncomfortable swoop in his gut. “Cliche?” 

“Of course, isn't that the fantasy? Hooking up with some hot surf instructor for a summer fling? Or a dance teacher. Or a masseuse.” She sighed dreamily, all exaggerated, then wrinkled her nose. “But like, those people are just trying to do their jobs. It's kind of gross.” 

Seokmin felt sick. He didn’t want Minghao to think of him like that; he was just trying to be friendly. But of course, that’s what he’d been talking about, right? He thought Seokmin was some rich, bored kid wanting to play with him. The idea of Seokmin being some...spoiled island playboy?? was so ridiculous that he almost laughed out loud. But it wasn’t funny to Minghao, and Seokmin felt like he owed him an apology. 

….

When he got to dance class, Minghao smiled at him and waved. He seemed friendly, and not like he thought Seokmin was a creep, but Seokmin was distracted by his thoughts the whole time. 

After the class, Seokmin hung back and waited for everyone else to trail out, laughing and talking together. But one of the women from last week caught his arm and brought him outside the door, and asked him if he was from Gwacheon, he looked familiar, and did he know Kim Sulhee? By the time he assured her that he did not, that maybe he had some lookalike wandering around Gwacheon, but he would definitely come say hi if he was ever in the area, and heard all about her niece who was very beautiful and studying computer science in Australia, the door to the dance room had been firmly closed and the lights were dim. 

Gathering his courage, Seokmin tried the door, which opened easily. He stuck his head in. 

Minghao was there, fiddling with his phone in one corner of the room near the mirrors. He had a length of some white material wrapped around his wrist and hand and it was trailing along the floor. Suddenly, music blasted through the sound system, startling Seokmin so badly that he jumped and screamed. 

“Sorry!” he yelled, holding his hand over his pounding heart. “Sorry, I was just startled.” Minghao just looked at him, a small smile on his face.

“Seokmin-ssi. Did you forget your water again?”

“No, I came to talk to you, actually.” Seokmin crossed the room, his heart still not quite calmed down from his scare. He stopped about a foot in front of Minghao and bowed to him. “I owe you an apology, Teacher.” 

“Hey,” Minghao said softly, reaching out to grasp his shoulder. “Why so formal?”

“It was brought to my attention that I’m an idiot,” Seokmin sighed, straightening up. “By my older sister, who is really good at bringing that kind of thing to my attention.” He tried to play it off with a laugh, but didn’t get a response from Minghao, so he just tried to turn it into a cough. “Yeah, uh, so she maybe pointed out how gross it was for guests to flirt with resort employees and that was after I figured out that you thought I was trying to ask you out the other day, which by the way I didn’t realize until much later, so um, yeah. I didn’t mean to be gross by flirting with you because I didn’t mean to actually uh, flirt with you. So.” Seokmin stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, intending to spin around and leave, but Minghao stopped him. 

“Hey,” he said, and yeah, he was clearly struggling not to laugh. Seokmin only hoped he wasn’t laughing _at_ him. “It’s cool, really. I didn’t think you were being gross. And if you’re just looking to be friends, then yeah, sure. Let’s hang out.”

“I mean, you’re out of my league anyway, haha, right, so yeah, we’re good!” 

Minghao leveled a stern look at him. “Have you looked in a mirror lately? I meant it when I said you were handsome.” He ducked his head and picked his phone up again. The music quieted. 

“Oh no, don’t stop on my account. I’m interrupting you, I’m sorry. Can I ask, what are you practicing for?” Seokmin picked up the long length of white silk, testing its strength in his hands. He realized, belatedly, that the other end of it was still wrapped around Minghao’s wrist. 

Minghao hesitated, dropping his head, and Seokmin rushed to say, “If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine, it’s none of my business.” 

“No, no, we’re friends now, right?” Minghao sat up straighter and stretched his neck, rolling it to one side and the other. “It’s just kind of silly. I feel embarrassed talking about it.” 

Seokmin couldn’t imagine what Minghao could possibly be embarrassed about, but he didn’t want to say so in case it really _was_ embarrassing, so he waited him out. 

“I was an idol.” At Seokmin’s startled look, Minghao waved his hand in the air. “No, no, seriously, it’s no big deal. I went to Beijing for three of the shittiest years of my life, we debuted with a briefly viral hit that got us one endorsement for chewing gum and then the company went bankrupt.” He shrugged, like it was nothing, but Seokmin could tell it still hurt. “My slight brush with fame was enough for this place--” he looked up and waved his hand around the room, “--to hire me outright and that’s helped me pay back some of the trainee debt I still owe.” 

Seokmin had heard stories, most of them horrifying; it was hard these days to not know at least one or two ex-idols. “And the dance?”

“I have a chance to audition for a guest mentor spot on Produce. Well, kind of.” Minghao nodded at Seokmin. He could feel how big his own eyes had gotten. “Yeah, it’s a big deal. They’re having a dance showcase here at the resort next week, and some of the people involved in Produce are coming to judge. My best friend, who was in the group with me and is my partner for the dance, met up with one of the producers, got our name in there, and also got the scoop that they’re looking for new mentors at these showcases. And, you know, one of the backers owns the resort...you know how it goes, it’s all politics.” Seokmin nodded. He knew how it was. Minghao smiled. “But the politics are in my favor for once, and honestly, it’s more exposure than I can hope for out here, and it’s. Well. It’s my last chance.” 

Seokmin had more questions about that, but Minghao was starting to look uncomfortable and closed off, so instead he said, “Tell me about the dance.”

Minghao brightened up almost immediately. “It’s about struggling with yourself, the push and pull between who you are and who you want to be. We each play different sides of the self, and this--” he shook the length of fabric “--is our tie. Our connection. Our struggle.” 

“That’s really cool. I’d like to see it someday. If I could.” 

Minghao smiled. “Well, maybe someday there will be clips online.” He shook his hair out of his eyes and sighed. “If I can ever figure out how to practice my parts without a partner. I’m stuck on this damn island and Jun-ge is in Shenzen. We can’t practice together until right before the show.”

“Can I help?” The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying. Seokmin felt his face get hot. Dance? He couldn’t dance. Nothing like Minghao could. And probably nothing like his friend. “Sorry, I--”

“Actually, yeah. Do you mind?” Minghao hopped up excitedly, then stepped back, looking cautious. “Sorry, you’re on vacation, you should be enjoying the resort.”

“No, no, there isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be.” Seokmin smiled at him, big and happy. “Really, I want to. But I’m not a dancer?” 

“No, but you have a good sense of movement. You have stage training? For the theater?” At Seokmin’s nod, Minghao went on. “All I need you to do is hold the fabric at the right height and in the right place at the correct points in the music. Provide tension when there needs to be. Can you do that?”

It sounded simple enough. “Yeah, absolutely! Just show me what to do!”

Minghao’s answering smile was everything Seokmin could have needed.

Helping Minghao wasn’t actually all that easy; Seokmin had to learn the timing quickly, and he was stretching muscles he wasn’t sure he’d ever used before, but he tried his best to get it right. He wasn’t sure if he was actually all that much help, given how many times Minghao had to correct him. 

Luckily, only one or two of the times were because he was staring at how beautiful Minghao was when he danced. Maybe three.

After the fifth run-through, Minghao called an end to it. “That’s good for today,” he said. “I don’t want to pull anything.” He wiped the sweat from his face with one of the small white towels that were neatly stacked next to a laundry hamper, and tossed another to Seokmin, who had crouched down to catch his breath. The resort’s logo was stitched into the bottom, in ocean blues and greens. “Seriously, thank you.”

“I don’t mind,” Seokmin said. “Honestly...well, two weeks sitting on the beach is my parents’ idea of a dream vacation, but I’m already climbing the walls a little. This was fun. I like--” _you_ , he almost said. “...this. Really.”

“You’re too good, Lee Seokmin” Minghao said solemnly, walking over with his hand out. “Come on, I have to lock up.” 

Seokmin let him pull him to his feet and followed him out of the studio, pausing as Minghao keyed in a code out the outside door. 

As they stepped out into the bright, unrelenting afternoon sun, Minhao said, “Hey, let me buy you that ice cream we talked about. For your help.” 

Seokmin looked at him, feeling unsure again. This wasn’t a date, was it? He was so bad at figuring these kinds of things out.

Minghao caught his look and smiled. “Just an ice cream. And conversation.” He put his sunglasses on and tilted his head up to the clear blue sky. He looked like he could be modeling for some high fashion spread, even though he was sweaty and had just finished dancing. Seokmin couldn’t believe he hadn’t made it as an idol; his face should be all over vitamin powders and soft drinks and night creams. “Besides,” Minhghao said, startling Seokmin out of his thoughts. “If I was going to ask you out, you’d know it.”

“I-- what?” Seokmin stared at Minghao’s back as he walked away. “Hey! Hey, wait a minute, what is that supposed to mean?” 

“What flavor do you want?” Minghao called over his shoulder. 

“But-- what does that-- hey!” Seokmin yelled, stumbling over his feet to catch up. 

*******  
After their ice cream not-date, things changed a little in class. Minghao greeted him naturally and easily, like a friend, and often picked Seokmin to pair with him to demonstrate various moves. 

Seokmin was picking it up faster too, he’d been meeting Minghao for the past three days to practice his dance routine and he’d pushed his body to do things he hadn’t realized he was capable of. It wasn’t like any kind of exercise he was used to; it was more like the pilates class Soonyoung-hyung had dragged him to once. Lots of little, precise movements until his muscles shook. 

But it was fun. And he got to watch Minghao. And it was possible that he was going to have visible biceps after all this, so win-win all around. 

The morning of their last class, Seokmin got up early to swim off some of his anxiety. He was going to be tired later, but it was better than showing up just vibrating with nerves. He really tried not to think about what might happen once he wasn’t a student in Minghao’s class anymore, but he couldn’t stop that little flutter of hope that didn’t die down even as he cut through the sparkling blue water. 

That flutter of hope lasted through his shower, through the class, where Minghao greeted him as warmly as ever, through after-class practice, where he mostly watched Minghao practice getting his forward roll as smooth as possible. And then it died, slowly, sputtering out in the pit of his belly, as Monghao thanked him warmly and then left, walking in the opposite direction from Seokmin’s hotel, with just a single backwards glance and wave. 

Oh. Well. That was fine. 

Seokmin had his phone out to text Jeonghan before he’d realized he was doing it. 

_no luck with the dance instructor. just friends, i guess. my curse_

The response came back immediately. 

_do you want me to kill him?_

Seokmin smiled at his phone. _nah, hyung, thanks. maybe take me out for a drink when i get back?_ He missed his friends. 

_baby, hyung will glitter you up and set you loose in itaewon, the boys won’t know what hit them, okay?_

Seokmin sent back a thumbs up emoji, along with a shot glass and a rainbow. “I’m not going to sulk,” he said out loud to a bird who was perched on one of the pink-blooming decorative bushes lining the paths between the resort buildings. The bird seemed indifferent, but Seokmin gave it thumbs-up anyway. He wasn’t going to sulk! That wasn’t his style. 

But maybe he’d go find his mom first, let her pet his head and buy him lunch. That sounded nice. 

******

Later that same night, after being babied by his mom all day, swimming again, and eating way too much steamed crab at dinner, Seokmin was in his room alone. His sister had gone out with her friends again, and Seokmin was exhausted. He was sun-tired and freshly showered, drowsing on his bed with his phone in his hand, when someone knocked on his door. 

He jerked, dropping his phone, suddenly very awake. It was a little late for either the cleaning staff or his parents. Seokmin got up and cautiously opened the door. “Hello?” 

It wasn’t his parents. And not the hotel staff he was expecting. It was Minghao, arms crossed over his chest, foot tapping like he’d been waiting for Seokmin this whole time, rather than startling him out of his skin. 

“We’re going to a party,” Minghao announced, without saying hello, as soon as Seokmin opened the door.

“Oh hello,” Seokmin said, opening the door wider to let him in. “Nice to see you too, what is this about a party? And how do you know what room I’m in?” Minghao was wearing tight black waxed jeans with rips at the knee and an oversized, gauzy-looking blue shirt. It was possible that Seokmin could see his nipples. If he was looking for that kind of thing. Which he definitely wasn’t. Except he was and now he was staring at Minghao’s chest and not talking.

“My friends are having a party and I want you to go,” Minghao said. “And your room number was on your class registration.” He looked around the suite. “Your parents aren’t here?”

“No, they’re out on some nighttime boat cruise and my noona is out with people she met here.” Seokmin had been planning for a night of watching dogs doing tricks on TikTok, maybe getting wild and ordering a bottle of wine from room service. “Wait, um, why do you want _me_ to go?”

Minghao looked away, his arms crossed. “Is that what you’re wearing?” was all he said.

Seokmin looked down. He was wearing old workout shorts and a stretched out white t-shirt. “No?” he said.

“Okay, so change,” Minghao said, with an impatient gesture.

Seokmin had no idea what he was supposed to change into for a cool party with the boy he liked while said boy was waiting outside his bedroom door. He wasn’t built for this kind of pressure. “Uh, sure,” he said, backing into the door and wincing as the handle hit his back. “Be out in a sec.” He slammed the door behind him, breathing heavily.

Clothes. Right. He had to get clothes. Well, he only had one clean pair of jeans so that decision was easy. And he had a button down shirt in a tropical red and white print that his sister said looked good on him so-- that? Maybe? No, would he look like a tourist? Plain white. Plain white was better. It was classic for a reason.

He changed in a daze, taking a second to open one top button and run a brush through his hair, wondering what kind of party Minghao might be taking him to. 

Minghao was lounging by the bathroom door when he got out. “Come on,” he said. “I’m going to do your makeup.” He pushed open the door and looked at Seokmin expectantly.

“So, quick question,” Seokmin said, holding up one finger as he shuffled past Minghao. “Why are you taking _me_?” 

Minghao grabbed Seokmin’s shoulders and angled him so he was leaning back against the sink, his legs spread so he was a little shorter. “I want to. We’re friends, right?” He didn’t meet Seokmin’s eyes as he tipped his face up toward the light. “Have you ever worn makeup before?”

“I’m an actor, so yeah. Of course.” 

“Stage makeup is different and you know it.” Minghao pulled a small bag out of the larger, expensive-looking bag that was slung across his chest. He started putting little jars and tubes on the counter. 

“Yeah, I know.” Minghao moved closer, between Seokmin’s parted legs. He smelled really good and his hair looked like a bird’s wing, it was so soft and silky. Seokmin wanted to touch it very badly. He gripped the counter harder. “Um. My noona does makeup. On instagram. I’ve been her model a few times. I’m not good at doing it myself though.” 

“Oh? Well, excuse me, Mr. Instagram Model. I didn’t realize I was in the presence of a celebrity.” Minghao held up a brush. “Close your eyes.” 

“Hey, it’s not like I ever had a commercial for _chewing gum_ ,” Seokmin laughed. “That’s the real deal.” 

Minghao put his hand over Seokmin’s mouth. He stilled immediately. His palm was so warm and broad. Suddenly, Seokmin felt like he was struggling to breathe. Minghao leaned in closer, bringing his face right near Seokmin’s. He was wearing makeup too, Seokmin could see his eyeshadow from here. It was orange. He didn’t know why he was focusing on that detail, but maybe if he looked really hard at Minghao’s pretty orange eyeshadow he wouldn’t be thinking about how close Minghao’s lips were to his own face right now. 

“Close your eyes,” Minghao repeated, and Seokmin was helpless to refuse, so he did. 

Minghao removed his hand and Seokmin sucked in breath, too loud and echoing in the resort bathroom. He could still feel the warmth of Minghao’s body and the cold smooth surface of the sink under his hands, but nothing else. It was like he was being held together by those two anchor points. 

Something tickled across his right eyelid, and Seokmin jumped. “Ssshhhh,” Minghao said, closer to his face than Seokmin expected. He pressed his hand on Seokmin’s leg, holding him still. “I don’t want to poke your eye out. I’m just doing a little shadow.” 

Seokmin almost nodded, but he stopped himself in time. “Okay,” he said, and Minghao’s hand squeezed his leg tighter as he huffed out a laugh.

“Ah, your eyes are so cute when you smile,” he said. Seokmin felt himself smiling harder in response. There was a few more seconds of gentle brushing, a pause in which Seokmin could hear Minghao opening something with a click, then more firm brushing lower on his eyelid. “Can I do a little blush?” 

Seokmin would have said yes to literally anything in that moment, so he nodded as soon as Minghao’s hand left his face. 

“Okay, just a little.” A larger, softer brush stroked the side of Seokmin’s face. He shivered, goosebumps chasing each other down his arm. The same brushing again, on the other side. Seokmin swallowed a small noise in his throat. “Ah. That’s perfect.” Minghao’s hand left his leg and Seokmin thought he was going to fly apart into a billion tiny atoms. 

Seokmin slowly opened his eyes. Minghao was leaning back, brush in hand, looking at Seokmin. His looked a little shy, almost embarrassed. “Perfect,” he said, not meeting Seokmin’s eyes. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Wait, so where are we going?” Seokmin asked, swallowing hard. His throat was dry. 

Minghao stared at him for a second, then came back to himself. “Oh! Yeah, let me clean up and I’ll show you.” He busied himself with packing everything up, avoiding looking at Seokmin until the end. “Okay, ready? This place is cool, you’ll love it.” 

*******

Minghao led him out through one of the kitchens. It was silent and dark, with only a few dim lights at the exits and over the few glassed in fire extinguishers. The pristine stainless steel counters glinted in the dark, flanked by rows of ranges and what seemed like a kilometer of racks stacked with glassware, bowls, pans, and other things Seokmin couldn’t identify. He hadn’t really thought before about how much work went into running a place like this, or how many people it took to run it, but seeing this still, cavernous kitchen really brought it home to him. 

Between two walk-in freezers was a door that Minghao swiped them through, using his staff badge. “Ready?” he asked, turning toward Seokmin with a smile as he held out his hand. He looked like a magical prince in a story and, in that moment, Seokmin would have followed him anywhere. 

“Yeah,” Seokmin breathed, and took his hand. 

Minghao led him past two buzzing, humming generators and out of the illuminated circle created by several clusters of overhead spotlights. Behind that, they pushed their way through waist-high bushes and several palm trees, which opened out onto what seemed like the entire ocean stretching out in front of them, gently glittering in the moonlight. “ _Oh_ ” Seokmin gasped.

“It’s cool, isn’t it? Come on, I want to introduce you.” It was at that point that Seokmin noticed all the people, standing among and on the rocks tumbling down to the water. It wasn’t a beach, not really -- it was too uneven and rocky for that -- but there was enough flat area for people to congregate in small groups, and two larger, very flat rocks that were being used as tables to hold several coolers. These were ringed with LED lights and they looked like little UFOs suspended above the ocean. There was enough ambient light from the electric glow of the resort towers above them that Seokmin could just see enough to get around. 

He still held on to Minghao’s hand, though. Just in case. 

“There’s usually a bunch of the staff here most nights,” Minghao said. “Or at least the ones I hang out with.” 

Everyone there spoke Mandarin to each other, and Seokmin’s Mandarin was only good enough if he was talking to a very patient toddler, but that was okay. He’d always gotten along well with people, and he was friendly, so the language barrier stopped being too much of an issue once he’d had a few drinks. Hand gestures, a little English, some mixed Korean and Mandarin, and a lot of laughing -- he was making friends with everyone in no time. 

Even so, Minghao never got too far away from him. He didn’t jump into Seokmin’s conversations too much, just kept a quiet eye on him, almost like he did in class. At one point, when Seokmin was having a conversation with a Korean-speaking member of the waitstaff about Lee Hyori, Minghao stepped up behind him and put one hand on the small of his back. It was warm, in contrast to the night air, radiating heat through the thin material of Seokmin’s t-shirt, and he was so surprised that he forgot what he was saying for a second. 

“Having fun?” Minghao asked, swaying into him a little. He didn’t look drunk, just loose and relaxed. Beautiful. 

“Yeah, thank you for inviting me. Seriously, this is awesome.” Seokmin genuinely loved meeting new people, even people he wasn’t going to see again after he left in a week. And that thought was a little too sad for tonight, so he firmly pushed it away. He also wanted to ask if this was a date, but Minghao had said he’d know if he was asking him out on a date, and he didn’t know, so this wasn’t it, right? Right? 

Seokmin didn’t trust his own instincts though, and he didn’t think Minghao would laugh at him too much if he asked, so he was considering asking. Plus, he’d caught Minghao sneaking glances at him, and he looked good tonight, damn it. He was just psyching himself up enough to say something, when Minghao frowned and dug in his pocket. He took out his phone, the lock screen shining bright in the dark night surrounding them, frowned at the notification, then stepped away from Seokmin, holding one finger up. 

This far away, it was impossible for Seokmin to see what he was doing, but he could see Minghao’s face, looking progressively more and more stricken in the reflection of the screen’s glow. Worry curdled in Seokmin’s gut. Was it bad family news? He’d seen Minghao’s lockscreen before he stepped away -- a picture of Minghao, his arms circling an elderly woman as he leaned into her with a smile. His grandmother? Was she okay? 

Seokmin had worked himself into such a state of worry for Minghao’s theoretical grandmother, he almost didn’t notice when Minghao came back. “Sorry,” Minghao said, with a grimace. “I have to go, it’s okay if you want to stay.”

“No, I’ll come with you -- is everything okay? It’s not your family, is it?” 

Minghao shook his head and started walking back toward the hotel. He seemed too upset to talk, so Seokmin just let him stay quiet as they pushed back through the bushes, into the parking lot, and back into the kitchen. Once they got inside, Minghao stumbled, then dropped into a crouch, his head in his hands. He said something, vehemently, in Mandarin. 

“Hey,” Seokmin said, crouching down next to him. Hoping it would be welcome, he tentatively put his hand on Minghao’s shoulder. “Hey, what’s up?”

Minghao took a deep, shuddering breath, then raised his head. “Jun-ge,” he said flatly. 

Seokmin tried to remember where he’d heard that before. “Oh! Your friend, the one you’re dancing with.” 

“The one I _was_ dancing with,” Minghao sighed. “He fell last night. Tripped and fell and broke his damn ankle. He’s in a cast and he’s looking at 8 weeks in that, then 8 weeks in physical therapy before it heals again. So.” Minghao looked at the floor in a way that made Seokmin think he was trying not to cry. “That’s that.” 

Seokmin’s stomach dropped. Minghao was working so hard on that, and they’d been working so hard together. This was his last chance, and it was a huge chance. There was no way something like this would come his way again. Seokmin’s heart broke and broke and broke, until he felt like _he_ was going to cry. If there was only some way he could--

“Can I help?” he asked, his mouth open before the thought was fully formed. “I mean. I know some of the routine. Can I learn the rest of it? Or like, a modified version of it? Obviously I’m not going to impress the judges, but I could maybe give _you_ a chance to impress them?”

Minghao looked at him, a furrow forming between his eyes. “Seokmin-ah,” he said, and Seokmin didn’t think he was imagining the sound of suppressed hope in his voice. “Jun-ge has years of dance training. You only have a week. And this would mean intense, constant practice from now until the showcase on Saturday. It would be the whole rest of your vacation and honestly I’m not sure it would even work.” 

“But it might work? It might work, right? Then the whole thing wouldn’t be a waste?” 

“It…” Minghao chewed on his lower lip. Seokmin could see his mind spinning. “It could work,” he admitted. “Maybe, with modifications. But I can’t ask you---”

“Who’s asking? I’m offering. And this is probably cooler and more fun than anything I could think of to do on my vacation, anyway. But don’t worry, I’ll work hard. I can work hard.” 

“There’s a cash prize,” Minghao said, still tentative, but he had moved closer to Seokmin. “If we won, I’d split it with you.” 

“I don’t need--”

“If you don’t take it, the deal is off,” Minghao said flatly. “Period.” 

“So, you’re saying we have a deal?” Seokmin asked, nudging him with a smile. “Huh? Is that what you’re saying?” 

“Okay,” Minghao said, a smile creeping over his face like a sunrise. “We have a deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twt: @fictionalmissp


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training montage!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to rei for her beta!

If Seokmin thought he was sore after one of his regular practices with Minghao, he was completely unprepared for practicing for real. It was entirely different to pay attention to the correct positioning of his hands and arms, and entirely another to try and position his entire body. He’d never done anything like this before. 

The first time they ran through the whole choreography, it was a disaster. Seokmin tripped and fell over twice, he dropped the fabric more times than he could count, and he couldn’t retain more than five moves in a row. It had seemed like such an easy, obvious idea when he had suggested it, but now it seemed ludicrous. 

“Okay,” Minghao panted, from where he was stretched out on the floor. Seokmin felt so bad that he’d given him false hope, he was never going to get this. “That could have gone better, but there’s potential.”

“You’re just being nice,” Seokmin sighed.

“Not at all, now I know what we have to do between now and the performance. You’re never going to get the full choreography, but I never expected you would. I’m going to modify a lot of it, and today gave me an idea of your strengths and weaknesses. It’s workable, as long as you practice.” 

“Oh,” Seokmin said, gently kicking Minghao’s foot with his own. “Okay, then let’s go. Let’s try some modifications.” 

“You sure you don’t need more rest?” Minghao got to his feet and Seokmin followed. “We can take a longer break.” 

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Seokmin said grimly. “And I need a lot of improvement.” He smiled at Minghao and raised his eyebrows. “Why, are you tired already?”

“Not even close.” Minghao picked up the length of fabric. “Let’s go.” 

That night, Seokmin barely had enough energy to shower before he fell into bed, exhausted and aching, with a smile on his face. They’d done it; the choreo was simplified enough that Seokmin could follow along, if not smoothly yet, and Minghao could still show off his moves. 

“Can you express longing?” Minghao had asked. “In your face? I think it would be better to lean on your acting skills.” 

Seokmin hadn’t needed acting skills to look at Minghao with longing, but his training helped him know what his best angles were, and how to position himself toward an audience. It had worked better than he’d hoped, and even though Mingaho said he’d never acted, he was surprisingly good at looking at Seokmin with longing too.

As Seokmin fell asleep, he replayed that look in his mind over and over again.   
……….

The next three days were a blur of work. Minghao was kind about it, but Seokmin had never trained so hard in his life. It was exhausting and exhilarating, and just being close to Minghao was exhausting and exhilarating in its own way.

Several parts of the choreo called for them to come closer, then push away. At one point, Minghao wrapped himself up completely in the fabric strip, binding himself closer and closer to Seokmin, who had to wrap his arm around Minghao, yanking him in. It was an intimate moment, and Seokmin kept freezing every time it happened. 

He knew where he was supposed to put his hands, but _where should he put his hands_. Everything seemed too intimate, or like he was trying too hard not to be intimate, and he wasn’t sure how hard to grab him...Seokmin felt like a complete fool. 

“Is this okay?” Minghao asked, after the third time they tried it. He pulled away, shaking the fabric off his body. He was wearing a loose tank top and upsettingly small shorts and Seokmin was going to maybe die if he had to touch his skin again. 

“Yeah, it’s fine. Sorry, I’m just not used to it yet. I’m still all stiff.” Seokmin did a goofy little dance, like he was a marionette. “Do you want to try that other part, the second verse? We’ve been stuck on that too.” 

Minghao gave him a look, then laughed softly. “Ah, yeah, that part with the forward roll? Try not to trip me this time, Seokmin-ssi,” he said, mock-sternly.” 

“Yes, sir,” Seokmin said, saluting. There was less touching in that part, just him moving the cloth around as gracefully as he could, while Minghao rolled and leapt, without tangling the cloth or tripping him. It was really difficult, but after several houses of rolling and leaping and Seokmin finally learning to stop looking at his feet, they nailed it, several times in a row. 

“Victory!” Seokmin cheered weakly, as he fell over sideways into a crumpled heap. The floor was nice. The floor was good. He could sleep here, maybe. As long as he didn’t have to move again. 

“Didn’t you say you had dinner with your parents later?” Minghao asked. He sat next to Seokmin. He looked good, even all sweaty. Maybe especially because he was sweaty. To Seokmin’s surprise, Minghao reached over and pushed Seokmin’s hair out of where it was sticking down in front of his eyes, then smoothed it again, like he was petting him. “I don’t want to make you late, hmmm?” 

“Oh.” Seokmin knew he was grinning up at him like a fool, but he didn’t care. He was too happy to move, and the last people in the world that he wanted to be thinking about right now were his parents. “I guess.” 

“So, um-- that part? In the final chorus, the embrace? I have some ideas about how we could practice to make it feel more fluid. You might think it’s silly, though.” Minghao looked a little hesitant, but he didn’t stop petting Seokmin, like it was calming him down as well. 

“Sure, whatever you want. I promise I won’t think it’s silly.” Seokmin probably would have agreed to anything, if Minghao just kept touching him. 

“Okay, then we’ll have regular practice in the morning, get the rest of the parts tightened up, and then I’ll meet you at the main entrance tomorrow night, late. Like around 10?” Minghao looked at him, almost shy, and said, “And wear a bathing suit.” 

Okay, now Seokmin was _really_ curious, but he was willing to be surprised. “I can’t wait,” he said. He stretched, trying to shake out the soreness in his arms, and caught a glimpse of the clock on the practice room wall. “Damn,” he sighed. “I really do have to go shower before dinner.” 

Minghao sighed as well, and took his hand away. “Okay,” he said. “Have fun with your family. And-- I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

They saw each other every day, but something about the way he was asking felt different. “Yeah,” Seokmin said, not bothering to hide how happy he was. “Tomorrow.” He nearly tripped over his own feet walking out of the room while still trying to look at Minghao, and when he stumbled outside, he couldn’t stop the happy little giggle that bubbled up inside him. Tomorrow. 

****

When Seokmin got out of the shower after practice, getting ready for dinner with his parents, Heejin was sitting on her bed, waiting for him. She was in her pajamas and brushing her hair, clearly ready for a night in, and staring daggers at him. “Baby brother,” she cooed. “Just who I was hoping to see.” 

“Who else would be using our shower,” Seokmin said, turning to carefully hang up the towel he’d used to dry his hair. He didn’t want to look at her. She could smell fear. 

“Who indeed,” she said grimly. “I know I’ve been out a lot, but don’t think I haven’t noticed that you’ve been out too.” 

Shit. Seokmin fussed with the bottom of the towel, fluffing it out a little. He put on his blandest face, a good actor face, and turned around to jump on his own bed with a dramatic little flop. “We’re on vacation,” he said. “Am I supposed to be stuck in my room?”

She wasn’t deterred. “I never see you at the pool, I never see you on the beach, I never see you at any of the bars. You’re not with mom and dad. You take a million showers a day and you’re always sweaty and you keep having muscle cramps at night.” She ticked off every point on her perfect teal ombre nails. “ _You_ ,” she announced, “are hooking up with someone.” 

Seokmin burst out laughing. “I’m really not.” _I wish I was_ , he didn’t add. “Really, noona. I appreciate your faith in me, but I’m not. I’m taking extra dance classes.” 

“Mom didn’t say anything about extra dance classes and I _know_ you’re not paying for them yourself,” she said skeptically. The expression on her face softened and she sighed. “Seokmin-ah, I’m sorry I’m giving you a hard time.” She looked away and grimaced. “It feels like you’re keeping something from me. I’m a little worried. And I miss how much we used to talk.” 

Seokmin’s heart crumbled a little. He could feel his chest tighten. Ah, he missed her too. They used to be so close, even when they were teasing each other or fighting. He hated feeling like this, like he was bursting at the seams to talk to her about this boy he was so into, and the fear that she would cringe or sigh or cry or...well, he didn’t know what she’d do. 

But suddenly it was all too big to carry by himself and his sister was looking at him expectantly, and he just. He was so damn tired. 

“I’m dancing,” he said, staring down at the comforter. It was white, with slightly off-white palm leaves embroidered all across the top. He started picking at the edge of one of the leaves. “That part is true. But I kind of have myself in this situation.” He went on to explain: meeting Minghao, becoming friends. The party. The competition. The secret practice. He didn’t explicitly tell her about his crush, but he didn’t leave anything out either. He told her how handsome Minghao was, that Seokmin wanted to spend time with him and that he didn’t want to leave him without a partner. He hoped she would get it, without him having to say.

When he glanced up after telling the story, she was looking at him in that same soft way that she had been just a minute ago, and he broke. His face crumpled. “Oh noona,” he choked out, trying to brush the tears from his eyes. “I like him so _much_.” 

Her face broke into a small smile, but her eyes were shining. “Of course you do,” she said brusquely. “An idol? He’s probably so far out of your league it’s not even funny.” She moved over onto his bed and dabbed at his eyes with a tissue she pulled off the box on the nightstand. “Aish, you’re getting all blotchy.” Leaning in next to him, she pulled him in and he put his head on her shoulder, like he had when they were little. “Do you have a picture?” she asked, when his breathing had smoothed out. “Let’s see if this guy is good enough for my little brother.” 

“Noona, you just said he was out of my league,” Seokmin said, reaching for his phone. He felt a thousand kilos lighter, and giddy.

“Don’t talk back to me,” she sniffed, inspecting her nails. “Noona is always right.” 

“Oh how could I forget,” Seokmin said, rolling his eyes, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face. 

******  
Seokmin was ready and waiting outside the resort’s main entrance by seven minutes before ten, which seemed early enough that he wouldn't be late but not so early that he seemed too eager. He was wearing a bathing suit, as directed, and a tank top that Heejin said showed off his shoulders. 

When Minghao walked up (at three minute to ten), Seokmin was happy to see he was dressed similarly, with bright yellow swim shorts and a black sleeveless shirt. “You ready?” he asked. 

“Lead the way.” Seokmin double checked that his room card was still in the small internal pocket of his shorts. He wasn't sure if they were actually going swimming or what, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. 

“We’re just going down along the beach,” Minghao said, as they stepped through two adjoining patios filled with diners. It was a perfectly beautiful night, with a full moon hanging low overhead. Seokmin couldn't believe he’d be back in Seoul in a few days, arguing about dishes with his roommates and dealing with the late summer fine dust. 

He wondered if he and Minghao would stay in touch at all, when he was gone.

The resort was hosting a beach party on the stretch of beach closest to the main hotel; hundreds of people dressed in white, yelling, dancing, cheering, as a pounding beat echoed over the ocean. Torches dotted the sand around the beach as multicolored lights swept over the dancers. It looked so cool, like something out of a movie, but Seokmin wasn’t here for that. 

Minghao led him past the dancers, out onto a long dark stretch of sand. There were a few people here; drunk stragglers from the party trying to clear their heads, an elderly couple walking a tiny dog, a couple holding hands and giggling at each other. Nobody seemed to pay attention to them. “Puppy,” Seokmin whispered, pointing at the silky little terrier who was yapping and growling at the waves. 

He didn’t expect Minghao to notice, but he did. “ _Ohhhhh_ ,” he breathed. “Puppy! It’s so cute.” Minghao stopped walking and they both stopped to watch the puppy for a minute, enthralled in its antics, until the old woman gathered the dog up in her arms and kept walking. 

“Cute,” Seokmin sighed. Dogs were the best. 

“Okay, let’s go,” Minghao said, and tugged Seokmin by the wrist, leading him further down the beach. He didn’t let go of Seokmin’s wrist as they walked, and Seokmin couldn’t focus on anything that wasn’t the warm curl of his fingers against his skin. “There’s a quiet place back here.” 

The quiet place was a little rocky alcove tucked away at the far side of the beach. It looked like the beach just ended there, but Minghao waded into the water and took Seokmin around the jetty of rocks and palm trees sticking out into the waves, leading him to an inlet that was mostly hidden from view. It was just the space between one jetty and the next, but it felt like its own little world. The broad palm leaves rustled gently above their heads and the full moon peeked down on them, just visible past the trees over the ocean. The water was chest-high in parts, waist-high closer to the shore. 

Seokmin immediately dunked his head under water, then almost as immediately wished he’d taken off his tank top before he’d done that. He was soaked. Oh well, it was still really warm, even at night. “This is awesome!” he spluttered happily when he came up for air. 

Minghao was looking at him, seemingly not listening, just staring. “Hey,” Seokmin said, splashing him. “Hello, earth to Minghao-ssi, please come in.” 

“Sorry.” Minghao shook his head and put his hand on the back of his own neck, looking down a little. “I thought this would be a good place to go over that one part we’re stuck on. It needs to be fluid, like the ocean.” He looked a little embarrassed. “I don’t know, and I thought it would be a good place to go and get out of our heads about the whole thing for a bit, try something different.”

“That’s really smart.” Seokmin was willing to try anything; the performance was so soon. “I can hum the music, if that would help?” 

“I was going to ask,” Minghao said, smiling. “Thank you.” 

It was so quiet out here. The only thing Seokmin could hear was the wind and the distant horns of boats out in the bay. Every once in a while the wind shifted and he caught the muffled beat of the beach party DJ, but that just added to the feeling of complete isolation. 

Minghao was stretching in the water, moving his body so smoothly that it looked like there was barely any resistance. Seokmin started humming a little, mostly to himself, making sure he got all the important beats of the song, then a little louder as he waltzed closer to Minghao, his arms outstretched. “Sir,” he said, with as deep of a bow he could handle without shoving his face into salt water, “may I have this dance?” 

“Of course,” Minghao said, just as formally, with his own answering bow, before sweeping Seokmin into his arms. In an instant he was leading, sweeping Seokmin around in big circles as Seokmin laughed up into the sky. Minghao was laughing quietly too, giggling almost, his arm warm and firm around Seokmin’s waist. The first touch of his hands on Minghao’s bare, wet skin made Seokmin shiver and he wished he was brave enough to do something that wasn’t just following along.

The water was too high for them to keep it up. Seokmin stumbled, almost losing his footing on a slippery rock, and Minghao caught him tight, almost losing his own balance. “Whoa,” Seokmin said, gripping Minghao tighter to steady himself. “We don’t want to get hurt before we even have the chance to perform.”

“Do you think we can pull this off? Really?” Minghao had loosened his arm, but hadn’t completely let go of Seokmin. He could feel the warmth of Minghao’s body close to him, through the cooling breeze and the damp shirt sticking to his skin. 

“Of course. It looks good. _You_ look good. We just have to get this last part.” Seokmin regretfully stepped away from Minghao and yanked his shirt off. “Here, we can use this instead of the fabric. It’s not long enough to wrap, but we can both hold on to it.” He offered one end of the now-soaking shirt to Minghao. “Here.” 

“Right,” Minghao said slowly, reaching out to take the shirt, but his eyes were all over Seokmin. Everything felt very still and quiet. Waves crashed against the rocks. Goosebumps rippled across his skin. “Let’s start from the end of the first chorus.” 

It was a little awkward at first, getting used to dancing in the water, but Minghao was right; it did feel more natural to move like this. He wasn’t afraid of falling, the water absorbed some of the impact of Minghao’s body against his, and everything did feel smoother, slower. He could pay more attention to how he was moving, because every move was harder to make. 

Unfortunately, it also meant that he could pay more attention to the feeling of Minghao’s body against his own; over and over and over again. His back pressed against Seokmin’s front, Seokmin’s arm across his chest. The wet feeling of Minghao’s t-shirt could have been unpleasant against Seokmin’s skin, but it wasn’t. It just made him think about how close they were to being skin to skin. He wanted to taste the droplets of water running down Minghao’s neck. He wanted to spin him around and kiss him. But he didn’t do any of that, he just kept pulling him in and wanting, until he felt like he was going to vibrate apart with want. 

And of course, it was his body that betrayed him. Minghao was going through the moves again, pulling away, stretching Seokmin’s shirt out, his arm arcing gracefully behind him, the moonlight spilling down his chest, and he was the most beautiful thing that Seokmin had ever seen. And then he was twirling in, pressed up against Seokmin, Seokmin wrapped his arm around him and just-- held. A little noise of want escaped Seokmin’s throat, without him meaning to. 

_What are you doing_ , he asked himself, mildly horrified, like he was watching himself from a distance. In his arms, Minghao stilled. Seokmin had stopped humming, and they were both breathing, loud and harsh. A bird called out from the trees waving above them and rustled in the leaves. Seokmin wanted to say anything, crack a joke, break the moment, but he felt frozen. He was breathing into the crook of Minghao’s neck from behind and it would take almost nothing for him to drop his head and press his lips to the skin there. 

But then Minghao stood, pulling away from him. Seokmin let his arm fall away and stepped back, about to apologize, but Minghao stepped closer with a studying, focused look on his face, cupped Seokmin’s jaw in his hands, and kissed him. 

Seokmin stiffened in surprise for only a second before melting into it. He wrapped his arms around Minghao’s waist and let the next wave push him in even closer. It had been a little while since he’d been kissed, so it took him a minute to remember how to move his lips and the right angle to tilt his head, but god, it was so wonderful. He was being kissed under the moon by the boy he liked and he never wanted it to stop. 

“Is this okay,” Minghao asked breathily as they pulled apart. “Sorry, I--” Seokmin cut him off with another kiss, more forceful than Minghao had been. He tangled his fingers in Minghao’s hair and felt him shudder against him. The ocean swirled around them as the sounds of the birds, the distant party, and everything else in the world just faded away. 

It was hard to say how long they stood there and kissed, but the more uncomfortable Seokmin got in his wet clothes and bare skin, the cooler the wind got, the more desperate he felt. They only had _this_ , right now. Seokmin was leaving. They lived in different countries. He didn’t want it to end. Just when he realized his shorts were probably rubbing a raw strip around his waist, they both reluctantly pulled apart. 

“We should go,” Seokmin sighed. “My noona is going to wonder where I am. I don’t want to, though.” 

Minghao pulled him in for one last, brief kiss, and pressed their foreheads together. “Hey,” he said. “I don’t want you to think I do this all the time. I’ve never hooked up with a guest or anything like that.”

“Guess I’m special,” Seokmin said, trying for a big, confident smile. 

“Mmm, you have no idea.” Minghao said, rubbing his thumb across Seokmin’s cheek. “I’ll never forget you.” 

“Hey, I’m not gone yet. And we can keep in touch,” Seokmin said, nudging him with his shoulder. “Let’s just enjoy the time we have, okay?” He believed it was all going to work out. How? He had no idea. But Seokmin was an optimist, and he just couldn’t believe that he had finally met someone as amazing as Minghao and then lose him right away. That just wasn’t going to happen.

“Okay,” Minghao said, with a sad smile, and stepped away with another little sigh. He looked at Seokmin for another long moment, and then he frowned. Minghao looked around at the water with a concerned, then startled expression. “Oh, shit.” 

“What?”

“Um. Your shirt. I think I let go of it. It’s uh--” They both looked around, but there were nothing but endless, roiling black waves as long as far as they could see. 

Minghao looked so completely dismayed that Seokmin couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll just run up to my room real quick. Don’t worry about it.” 

They giggled pretty much the whole way back, holding hands when they were in the darker parts of the beach and goofing around when they got into the lighted areas. “Get some sleep,” Minghao said, when he dropped Seokmin off at his hotel. “I need you rested for practice tomorrow.” 

Seokmin ignored the cold of the air conditioner against his bare skin as he went back to his room. Barely anyone was around, and most of the people who were, were pretty drunk. Only a few people gave him looks as he walked through the lobby. He leaned against the cool metal of the elevator walls and closed his eyes, picturing kissing Minghao, again and again.

When he let himself into his room, Heejin wasn’t asleep yet. She was walking out of the bathroom in her pajamas, dabbing makeup remover on her face. “ _Well_ ,” she said, looking him up and down. “Lose your shirt?” 

“Mmm-hmm,” Seokmin hummed, unable to keep the smile on his face. “I’m going to use the bathroom to change, okay, noona?” 

“Yeah, I don’t want you dripping everywhere. Soooooo, I take it everything went well?”

Seokmin ran up to her and lifted her off her feet, twirling her around, “Aaaahhhh, yes! Oh my god, yes! Ugh, noona, he’s so great and I’m so happy and I’m going to miss him when I go--”

“Put me-- you’re getting me all wet, Seok-- fuck, put me _down_ ,” she screeched. “Oh my god, of course you’re as obnoxious as possible when you’re in love.” He dropped her and she smacked his chest. “Go shower and change, you’re all gross.” 

“I love you, noona.” Seokmin blew her a kiss. He wasn’t in love, not yet, but it was cute that she thought so.

“I love you too, brat. Go change.” 

When Seokmin got back to bed, he had one message from Minghao that was just a string of various colored hearts. Seokmin sent him a bunch of hearts back, then settled into bed. He felt like he was filled with a thousand tiny bubbles inside. He’d felt like this before, about other crushes, but Minghao liked him _back_. One more practice. Then the performance. And then Seokmin was going home. He needed to make the rest of his time on Hainan count, because if he had anything to say about it, this wasn’t the last time he was going to see Minghao.


	4. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we see some familiar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be another chapter after this one, I couldn't quite wrap it up in this one. Hopefully it won't take so long this time. Huge thanks to rei for the beta!

Whether it was getting the tension out of the way, or if the ocean practice really did help them, the last practice went more smoothly than all the others combined. Seokmin hit every mark; Minghao was able to show off every move without having to baby Seokmin along, and they did it several times in a row, proving it wasn’t a total fluke. 

“I can’t believe we did it,” Seokmin panted. He was exhausted, but it felt like every muscle in his body was singing. It felt so good to do things well, to work hard and get it right. Minghao, who was staggering his way across the room toward his water bottle, gave him a thumbs up. “Holy shit.” Sweat was stinging his eyes and he felt like he was radiating enough heat to cook an egg on his forehead. “I’m going to go--” he jerked his thumb toward the door. “Water.” 

Minghao waved a hand at him as he chugged down half his bottle. 

Seokmin went to the bathroom, splashed water on his face, refilled his water bottle from the cooler, and came back into the practice room. 

Minghao was sitting against the wall, rubbing the sweat off his brow. It was nothing exciting, but Seokmin didn’t want to stop looking at him. Minghao smiled at his phone, snorting a little at whatever he saw there.

"It's Jun-ge." Minghao gestured for Seokmin to come closer and he did so happily, scooting up next to him and leaning his head on Minghao's shoulder. "Look." He moved his phone over to show Seokmin.

The screen was filled with a picture of two guys, one taller with soft brown hair and sleepy-looking eyes and the other was bright and cheery looking, with sharp cheekbones. He was wearing scrubs. "Can you believe him? Who actually meets a hot nurse in the hospital and successfully asks him out? His luck is unreal."

"What about your luck, hmmm?" Seokmin asked, playfully nudging against his shoulder. "You met a hot me."

"If I was really lucky," Minghao said, dropping his hand down on Seokmin's head, trailing down to the back of his neck, "you wouldn't be leaving so soon."

"I downloaded WeChat," Seokmin said, tangling their hands together. "Using the VPN for Katalk is a pain in the ass." He squeezed their hands together once,. Twice. "My friends always tell me that I'm too optimistic. That I'm silly. Well, I'm going to be silly and optimistic about you."

Next to him, he heard Minghao suck in a breath, then let it out slowly. He squeezed Seokmin's hand back. "Okay," he said, after a moment. And then, "Thank you."

"You're worth it," Seokmin said. Whatever confidence he'd summoned in this conversation fled suddenly and he laughed nervously. "If you want to, that is-- I obviously don't want to keep you from--"

Mingaho cut him off with a kiss, then pulled back. "I don't know what's going to happen," he said, directly but not unkind. "I can't make any promises. But I don't want to just stop whatever this is when you leave. I know that much."

"Okay, that's that then," Seokmin said, snuggling against him happily. "Want to make out until I have to leave?"

"I'm all gross," Minghao said, shoving him away playfully. "Give me a second." He got up and left for the bathroom, leaving Seokmin to lean his head back against the wall, grinning like a fool. 

He'd just shot off a message to Jeonghan and another to Mingyu, reminding him that he'd be home in a few days, when Minghao came back out. His face and the neckline of his shirt were damp and he was shimmying a little, dancing forward, then back, spinning and extending a hand dramatically as Seokmin giggled. 

Minghao danced across the floor, showing off a little, swinging his hips, and Seokmin laughed. God, he was gorgeous. He remembered walking in here that first day and being so head over heels for him that he could barely talk. That so much had changed in just over a week was unbelievable. 

Dropping to his knees, Minghao crawled the last meter across the floor to Seokmin, his eyes dark. He trailed his fingers up Seokmin’s bare knee, making him shiver. Minghao’s hair was falling in his eyes and Seokmin pushed it back with one hand as Minghao crawled forward, pushing Seokmin up against the wall. He straddled Seokmin, thighs bracketing his hips, and Seokmin used his handful of hair to pull him into a kiss. 

“We can’t stay long,” Minghao murmured. “There’s a yoga class coming in here in about five minutes.” 

Seokmin pouted and Minghao laughed, booping his nose. “Even if you pout, there is still going to be a class in five minutes.” 

“Fine, fine.” 

They made it out, giggling, four minutes and fifteen seconds later. Seokmin squeezed Minghao’s hand as they walked outside. “See you tomorrow.” 

“Get some sleep and eat well, okay?” Minghao looked nervous, all of a sudden. Like it was hitting him that this was it, it was happening. 

“You too. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Seokmin waved to him as Minghao walked away, glancing back twice to throw finger hearts, then looked embarrassed about it.

Seokmin was in so deep. This was going to hurt if this didn’t last, but Seokmin was going to hold on to hope, and not think about it until after tomorrow.

*****

“I feel like we’ve barely seen you this week,” his mother said, staring at Seokmin over the top of her sunglasses. “Are you okay? Having fun?”

“Yes, mom, of course.” Seokmin poked at his rice with the side of his spoon. He wanted to say something. It felt awful, keeping things from them, even if he couldn’t tell the whole truth. “I met a friend,” he said, feeling his ears heat up. Across the table, he saw his sister look over at him. “At that dance class I took, from the beginning of the trip? We’ve been hanging out.”

“Oh! You should bring him around before we leave.” His mother brightened. “Or...her?” 

Internally, Seokmin sighed. “Him, actually. He’s the dance teacher. We started talking because we both like performing and I ended up helping him with some choreography he’s working on.” 

“This vacation is for relaxing,” his dad said. He reached over and patted Seokmin’s hand. “You work so hard as it is.” 

“It’s been fun, really! I swear. But I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much.” Seokmin took his dad’s hand and leaned over to kiss his mom’s cheek. “Thank you,” he said, trying to convey his sincerity without giving too much of himself away. “For the trip. It’s been wonderful.” 

“You’re a good boy,” his mom said, looking pleased. Across the table, his sister rolled her eyes.

Later, that night, in their room, while Seokmin was trying to sleep, his sister asked, her voice echoing across the room, “Are you going to try to see him after?” She sounded like she felt sorry for him. 

“I guess I’m going to try,” Seokmin said. “I’m not sure how.” 

“Fighting, Seokmin-ah,” she whispered. 

He raised his hand in a gesture of victory, then let it drop down to the mattress. It was late, he needed sleep, and his mind was too full of everything to rest. He grabbed his earbuds and put on a white noise playlist, listening to rain and wind sounds. Suddenly, he wanted to be home. He wanted to be in his favorite cafe with his favorite people. He wanted to be on the bus with the old lady who stared at him all the time. He was suddenly, viscerally, homesick. 

In a way, it was comforting. Even if he had to leave Minghao, he would get to be home. He missed his friends, and their support. He was going to miss Minghao so much, but he thought -- he hoped -- being around the people he loved the best would ease that. Seokmin wanted his last day with Minghao, but he also wanted to skip ahead past the leaving part and go right to the part where Jeonghan let him put his head in his lap and gently called him a fool while Mingyu cooked piles of jajangmyeon. 

It was nice to remember that he was loved, even if he wished he had a little more than that.

******  
Seokmin had been in plenty of stage productions before, but nothing like this. The presence of actual celebrities elevated the anxiety and excitement backstage beyond anything he’d ever experienced before. Minghao was pacing, earbuds in, barely paying attention to anything around him. It seemed like part of his process and Seokmin didn’t want to interrupt that, so he ignored him and closed his own eyes, running the choreography through his head again and again. His face was heavy with makeup and he willed himself not to sweat and make it run. 

There were other acts of course, a few solo artists and another pair of dancers. Seokmin didn't really know enough about the intricacies of dancing to know if they were better or worse than Minghao, so he just quietly decided that they were all worse. He felt a little bad about it, but not as bad as he would if he imagined Minghao as worse. _They're all trying their best_ , he thought, and that was his last thought before the stage manager called Minghao's name.

Seokmin had just enough time to get nauseatingly anxious, his vision going a little dark for a second, and then they were on the stage.

It was a small stage, meant for local musicians and performers to give weekend shows at the resort. The theater at Seokmin's university was more impressive than this. But sitting in the front row of seats was _Jackson Wang_ and there were all these cameras here and suddenly, Seokmin realized what a huge thing he was doing, helping Minghao with this.

But he didn't have time to think about it, because Minghao was speaking. It was in Mandarin, but Seokmin knew what he was planning to say. An introduction, a thank you to the judges, and a brief explanation about how he'd trained Seokmin in such a short time. Seokmin kept a smile on his face, feeling his worries fade to the back of his head as his training took over. He bowed and introduced himself when Minghao indicated, bowed again as Minghao wrapped up, and by the time the lights went dim, Seokmin was gone, deep in his own body, mind only on the performance.

The music started, Seokmin took a deep breath, raised his chin, and sent the judges his best smile. He was ready. 

Left leg out, right hand raised, the rough press of Minghao’s palm into his, always aware of the white silk, moving and moving and moving without letting the smile drop from his face, and somehow, in what felt like mere seconds, it was over. They nailed it, there wasn’t any question about it. Seokmin felt adrenaline rush through his body at the realization. He hadn’t put one toe in the wrong place and Minghao had been flawless. Radiant. Compelling. Holy shit. They’d _done it_. 

Seokmin looked over toward Minghao, who was grinning out toward the judges. He was sweating, but it just made him shine under the lights. His loose white tunic clung to him in patches and he had one hand raised up. He was stunning, like this. It was his moment and he deserved it. Seokmin stepped slightly to the side, giving Minghao the full glory of the spotlight. The change in angle helped him to see the judges better. The woman, who he didn’t recognize, had taken her glasses off and was talking to the man next to her. He was scribbling something down furiously on the tablet in front of him. Jackson Wang was leaning back in his seat, arms crossed, but his face looked like he’d just won the lottery. 

Seokmin turned back to Minghao, who was bowing again. _Yeah, me too, Jackson_ he thought. Minghao was going to win. He knew it without waiting for the results. He was going to be a star in China. He was going to hang out with Jackson and Luhan and Lay and he was going to be awesome. Just awesome. It was a nice idea, that they would keep in touch through VPNs and WeChat and whatever, but that wasn’t going to be Minghao’s reality. Seokmin realized that now, looking at him. He felt the hope in his chest flutter and die, leaving him feeling empty. It was one thing having a long distance boyfriend in a different country. And it was another thing to have a long distance boyfriend when you were on TV and hanging out with celebrities. Seokmin imagined the kind of glamorous parties he’d seen actors and idols attending, and it was almost funny, imagining himself anywhere around those people. Almost.

He liked to hope, but Seokmin wasn’t a total fool.

“Awesome,” Jackson said in English, giving them both a thumbs up. “So good.” 

An efficient looking woman wearing all black and a lanyard rushed to his side and gestured for him to leave the stage, pointing at the exit sign on the other side from where they’d entered. “Minghao,” Seokmin whispered, tugging on his sleeve. 

Minghao looked at him, finally, still looking a little dazed. “Oh-- yes, sorry.” The apology was at the woman, who was starting to look annoyed. They left the stage, Seokmin leading at first, but Minghao quickly overtook him, grabbing Seokmin’s hand with a grin over his shoulder. “Come on,” he said, bypassing the door labeled CONTESTANTS, down the hall, walking faster and faster. Seokmin stumbled after him, laughing.

“Wait, where are we going?” he was out of breath, sore and wobbly from the performance, but he couldn’t help smiling at how excited Minghao was. 

Minghao didn’t answer, just pulled him forward, down one hallway, then a left down another, then he stopped at a door, swiped his employee keycard, and dragged Seokmin inside. Seokmin got a glimpse of rows of shelves with hundreds of carefully folded towels and blankets before Minghao was throwing himself into Seokmin’s arms. “We did it,” he gasped, taking Seokmin’s face in both his hands. 

“ _You_ did it,” Seokmin said, wrapping his arms around his waist. “You were amazing. You’re going to be a star.”

Minghao kissed him, hot and lingering. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you.” 

He didn’t mean it as a goodbye, Seokmin knew that. But it felt like one anyway. “Do we need to go back?” he asked. 

“In a bit,” Minghao stepped even closer to him, pressing their foreheads together. “I think there are a few more acts after us.”

“Then kiss me,” Seokmin said, trying to keep his voice steady. He could feel his smile wobble a little, but he covered it by pressing his lips gently to Minghao’s. “Kiss me until we have to go?”

“Yes,” Minghao whispered against his lips. “I’m going to miss you so much.” 

Seokmin closed his eyes and kissed him, soft and sweet, then deeper, hotter, the smell of laundry soap all around them and a shelf digging into his back. Limbs and bodies tangled together and the taste of sweat and makeup on Seokmin’s tongue, as he drank in every second, committing it to memory, this perfect moment, this perfect boy. 

After they’d giggled their way back to the backstage area, they shared makeup wipes and carefully took off their smeared makeup before anyone noticed exactly _how_ it was smeared. “Do you want to grab a drink?” Minghao asked. “We could shower and meet up at the floating bar near your hotel? If you have time before your flight.” 

“We’re not leaving until tomorrow afternoon and I’m mostly packed.” One more night together. At least they’d have that. 

“Xu Minghao?” The woman from the stage was there, looking harried and holding a clipboard. Minghao stood and nodded his head, shooting Seokmin a nervous look. 

She didn’t acknowledge Seokmin, just went into a rapid-fire explanation of something in Mandarin. Seokmin watched Minghao’s face go from smooth and polite to surprised, to nearly vibrating with excitement. He said something back, bowing rapidly a few times, which she waved off while looking at her watch. He asked a question, and she looked at Seokmin, then nodded, and walked off. “Five minutes,” she said in English, looking at both of them.

Minghao spun around to look at him. “The judges want to talk to me. Like, now. They want-- god, they were impressed with what we did and super impressed that I’d taught you and they want to discuss things over dinner, oh my god. They’re not officially announcing the winner until tomorrow, but um. We won. We did it.” 

Ah. Seokmin was honestly, genuinely happy for him. This is what they’d been working toward. His feelings were just a burden at this point. “Well what are you waiting for?” he said, making a shooing gesture. “She said five minutes! Go!”

“I’m going I’m going,” Minghao said with a grin, blowing him a kiss. “And I’m sorry!”

“Good luck!” Seokmin called after him, watching as he disappeared behind the black curtains. _I’m not going to see him again_ , he thought. It was hard to figure out how he felt. Sad, for sure. Tired. Cold from being sweaty and then not sweaty. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known that this was his last night, he just maybe thought they-- well. 

He was always too hopeful about these kinds of things. And part of him, a very small part of him still nurtured a tiny spark of hope that somehow, this wasn’t the last time. 

But for now he was sticky and sweaty and needed a shower. He had some things to pack. Tomorrow was going to be a long day of traveling. 

When he got back to his room, Heejin was waiting for him with two bottles of Champagne in ice buckets. “How did it go?” she asked. “I figured no matter how it went, you might need this.”

Seokmin smiled, and it almost felt genuine. Even if he couldn’t have Minghao, he’d brought Seokmin this, being closer with his sister. He could talk to her now, about everything. Seokmin felt his smile get wider. He was so grateful, really. “Noona,” he said. “You have no idea.”

*****  
 _sorry, sorry it’s ben crazy evertinng is so exciting_

That was the last text Seokmin got from Minghao before boarding the plane. It was cute, how excited he was, misspelling everything in a rush. He deserved it. Seokmin ignored the little pang in his chest as he put his phone down on the tray in front of him. 

Last night, his sister asked him if he was okay and he’d said he was fine, it was a summer fling, no big deal. They liked each other, but they lived so far away, how could it work? Impossible. 

Jeonghan had read between the lines immediately when he texted him about it. _Hyung will kill him for you_ he’d offered instantly. 

_not necessary, he’s been perfectly nice. I’m just trying to be realistic_

_realistic is depressed for you, you can’t fool me_

That was fair, so Seokmin just didn’t respond. Jeonghan sent several messages after that, swearing up and down that he had the perfect guy for Seokmin, some other ‘97 named Jaehyun. 

Seokmin wanted to date, he really did. He’d had a taste of it, what it was like to be carried away and admired and liked and kissed, without having to force it. And now that he knew what it was like? He wasn’t ready to go back to the parade of guys who only liked him because he listened to their stories. Jaehyun had cute dimples, but it was going to take Seokmin a while to get over Minghao. 

Seokmin opened the photo file on his phone, looking at a full page of thumbnails of Minghao on the beach, Minghao in the practice studio, Minghao eating ice cream, Minghao, Minghao, Minghao.

Yeah. It was going to be a while before he was over it. 

Seokmin put his phone down again, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep for the rest of the flight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear there will be a happy ending! 
> 
> come yell at me: @fictionalmissp


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tooth-rottingly happy ending, I promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thank you to Rei, as always.

Seokmin messaged Minghao in the cab on his way back to his apartment in Seoul. _landed safe, i'm heading home now._ He didn't expect a response, but Minghao sent one right away.

_glad to hear it_ , followed by a string of hearts. Seokmin couldn't help smiling at his phone. He wanted to say something else, maybe _I miss you_ or _what are we doing here_ , but he was exhausted and his brain was still catching up to everything that happened. It wasn't the time.

When he got home, Mingyu was up and waiting for him. It felt like something should of changed in the time that he was gone, because he felt like he'd changed so much, but nothing really had. The framed prints of the Seoul skyline still lined the entryway. A Gudetama umbrella was shoved against the shoe rack. The apartment smelled slightly like garlic, as if Mingyu had been cooking earlier. And Mingyu was there, his hair freshly dried and fluffy, wearing the ancient World Cup t-shirt he liked to sleep in and plaid boxers. "Awww, sleepy," he cooed, laughing as Seokmin fell over his own feet. "Go take a shower, I have food in the fridge."

"Best roommate ever," Seokmin said, leaning against him and letting Mingyu hold him up for a minute. "You would not believe the past few weeks I've had."

“Jeonghan hyung did mention something, but he was being weirdly vague. Normally he'd have no trouble giving you shit, so I'm assuming it's serious."

Was it serious? Or was it just a silly summer fling? Seokmin wasn't sure anymore. Right now, in the familiar warm light of his apartment, Hainan seemed like a really vivid dream. "Shower," he mumbled into Mingyu's shoulder. "And then food, and then I'll tell you all about it.”

It didn't work out that way; Seokmin was so exhausted by the time he got out of the shower that he could barely eat the samgyetang Mingyu had made before he was falling into bed. "I met a guy," he managed to get out, and then he realized, slightly horrified, that he was getting choked up.

"Where does he live?" Mingyu asked. He always knew how to get right to the point.

"China," Seokmin said sadly.

Mingyu thought about that for a second, then patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Sucks, dude."

And that was the whole conversation before Seokmin went to bed, heartsore and tired.

Twelve hours later, when he finally emerged, groggy and disoriented, from his nest of blankets, there was another message from Minghao. It was a picture of him on a plane, making a peace sign, a smiling Jackson Wang next to him. _heading to Beijing to meet the team!!_ it said.

Seokmin sure as hell wasn't going to send him back any kind of selfie, not with drool still drying at the corner of his mouth and half his hair sticking up.

_have fun!!!_ he sent back, then winced. He sounded like his mother.

He waited for a bit, but there was no response.

*****

Minghao messaged him when he got to Beijing, then again several days later. They tried to make time to video call each other, but their schedules never really lined up. _i’m sorry_ , Minghao sent after the third time he had to cancel. _the filming schedule is crazy._ Texting was tough because even though Minghao spoke Korean really well, he didn’t quite have a handle on the written grammar. He sent things through a translator app sometimes, or wrote simple phrases in English, but it wasn’t quite enough to have a meaningful conversation.

It was difficult for Minghao. Seokmin understood that. And he was touched, genuinely, that Minghao was even still making the effort. But he couldn’t help himself as he typed out _i miss you_.

_i miss you too_ Minghao sent back immediately. 

It was hard, but Seokmin was willing to try, as long as Minghao was able. 

*****

The heat of summer turned to autumn, during which Minghao started filming in earnest. He disappeared, almost entirely, for weeks. Seokmin stopped checking his phone constantly and sometimes went a whole day without thinking about Minghao. He followed his social media posts, which got less and less personal and more blandly media friendly. 

Minghao tried to contact him here and there -- a random dog picture, or a smiley face -- but it was always at odd hours and never really led to a conversation.

Seokmin knew he should move on, but it was hard to think about. He kept waiting for that next message, even if his head told him he shouldn’t.

Later in October, as Seokmin was getting ready to start classes again, he was woken up by a call in the middle of the night. He was fast asleep and it took him a few seconds to recognize the noise his phone was making, then another few for him to nearly fumble the phone off his nightstand before answering. “Hello?”

“Seokmin-ah.” It was Minghao. He sounded terrible. Either drunk or exhausted, Seokmin wasn't sure. “Hi.” 

“Hi,” Seokmin answered, suddenly completely awake. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. No. I'm so tired.” His voice sounded scratchy and rough. “Sorry. I know it's late.” 

“It's okay, I wanted to talk to you. Where are you?”

Minghao sighed, long and deep with a little laugh at the end. “Work, I'm only ever at work anymore. I'd say I was sleeping here but I'm pretty much not sleeping.” 

“Do you...not like it?”

“I love it,” Minghao said quickly. “It's everything I've ever wanted, and I don't mind hard work. It's just that things changed so much so quickly, it's hard to keep my head on straight.” 

“I can see that.” _So why are you calling me,_ he didn't ask. 

But Minghao must have read his mind and said, “I miss you. I don't think it's fair of me to miss you, but I do.”

“Why isn't it fair?” Seokmin couldn't believe he was still getting this level of heart-pounding excitement over a phone call. God, he still had it so bad. 

“Because this is my life now. And it's not fair-- I can't travel, I can't come see you, I won't have time off. I have people watching my every move. This isn't going to-- I know it's not-- I can't do this with you and it's not fair.”

Seokmin closed his eyes. The fluttering in his chest turned to a stone crushing his heart. He knew this, but it was so hard to hear. “I know,” he whispered. 

“I don't want you to think I've forgotten you,” Minghao said, and it sounded like he was crying. “But I think you should forget me.” 

Seokmin sucked in a breath. Suddenly, it felt like it was hard for him to get air. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“I know. I know. But I don’t want you putting your life on hold for me. I’m just not sure if I can-- if I can see you anytime soon. Or ever. I’m sorry.”

“I know.” Seokmin cleared his throat. “I know. I knew before I left. I just-- I’m glad you tried, even just for this long.”

“You’re worth more than I can give you,” Minghao said, and it could have sounded like a stupid breakup line, but it didn’t. It sounded like he meant it, and like this was breaking his heart too. “And you’re right; I can’t forget you either. But I think we need to live our own lives for now.”

“Good luck with the show, you know. And everything.” Seokmin smiled, even though Minghao couldn’t see him. “Minghao fighting. I’ll be following you.” 

“Seokmin fighting,” Minghao said quietly. 

If they were in love, this is where they would tell each other that they’d always love each other. But they weren’t in love, it was just the potential of love that felt like it was dissolving out of Seokmin’s grasp. Instead, Seokmin just said, “Stay healthy,” and hung up. 

He cried, when he got off the phone, but just a little. This had been inevitable since he’d left, they’d just delayed it for longer than he’d expected. 

Nobody would understand why he was so sad. They all thought it was nuts that he hung on so long, except-- except maybe the one person who had been there all along. 

It was late and he shouldn’t be calling, but he needed to hear her voice. She picked up the phone on the third ring, sounding groggy and confused. “Seokmin-ah? Are you hurt?”

“Noona,” Seokmin said, his voice cracking and breaking. “He broke up with me.” 

“Oh honey.” Her tone shifted in an instant. “Tell noona all about it.” 

*********

The guys gave him about three weeks to mourn before trying to set him up with someone else.

“I know this guy Jaehyun, he’s gorgeous, you’ll love him,” Mingyu promised. “Just go out with him. And get your mind off things.”

Seokmin wasn’t going to sit home and pine forever. At least, that wasn’t part of the plan, so he agreed to go out with Jaehyun, at least once. He closed out of Weibo, where he was scrolling through Minghao’s aesthetic pics of flowers and sunsets, and sent Mingyu a text confirming that yes, he’d meet Jaehyun for pizza on Friday. 

Jaehyun _was_ gorgeous, with deep dimples and a sweet smile. He was a little shy and almost too quiet until Seokmin got him warmed up. In fact, Seokmin realized he was exactly the kind of guy Seokmin would have had a huge crush on when he was younger and was always too scared to talk to. But he had nothing to lose now, he realized, watching Jaehyun laugh at one of his jokes. His heart was, still, regrettably, elsewhere. And if meeting Minghao had taught him anything, it taught him not to settle for second best. 

“This was nice,” Seokmin said hesitantly, as they left the restaurant to walk to the metro station. “You’re really fun.”

“But,” Jaehyun said, raising his eyebrows. He didn’t look mad, which was good. 

“But I’m kind of less available than I thought and that’s not really fair to you.” 

Jaehyun smiled and held out his hand. “I appreciate you being honest at least.” 

When Seokmin got home, he wondered how he could be so stupid. He hadn’t heard from Minghao in two months. He’d told Seokmin to forget him, and according to his social media, Minghao was having too much fun having dinner with celebrities and trying on lots of clothes to think about Seokmin. 

“So he’s cute, right?” Mingyu asked, walking into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, took out a protein drink, and chugged it. Seokmin shuddered. Those things were gross, especially the green ones. Mingyu wiped his mouth and leaned against the counter. He looked sweaty, like he’d just come from the gym. “Jaehyun?”

“Yeah, definitely. And nice! He was quiet, but nice.” Seokmin smiled, but Mingyu knew him too well.

“You’re seriously still hung up on that Minghao guy, huh? You knew him for like, a week.” Mingyu made an apologetic face. “Sorry.”

“Two weeks,” Seokmin said automatically. “And yeah, I know it’s like. I should move on, right? But it felt like…” he trailed off, trying to find the words. “I think he really liked me. And I really liked him. I don’t know how to explain it. And I don’t want to be with someone who just keeps me around because he thinks I’ll laugh at his jokes, or...or...just because I’m friendly, or because he liked a picture of me.”

“You’re hot,” Mingyu said, reassuringly.

“Thanks,” Seokmin said. He sat down heavily in the chair next to Mingyu and sighed, resting his head in his folded hands. “He liked me,” he said. He didn’t know how to put it into words. They’d liked each other, and it had felt different from other times he’d liked people. “I don’t want to settle for anything that doesn’t feel like that.” 

“Okay.” Mingyu reached over and petted the back of Seokmin’s head. “I got you. No more dates, not until you’re ready.” 

******

Autumn turned into winter, and Seokmin stayed focused on his classes and his part in the school musical. He was the lead, and that was a huge amount of work that kept his mind off Minghao or his entirely dead love life in general.

Well, his mind was mostly off Minghao. His acting teacher was blown away at how much his dancing had improved since last year, and Seokmin was pretty sure he got the part of King Arthur just because he learned the fight sequences so fast. He quietly thanked Minghao when he found out, and it didn’t even sting. It was just a nice memory. 

Sometimes, late at night, he opened up Weibo and looked at Minghao’s posts. The numbers he was getting were insane, more than Seokmin could imagine. He was doing well. 

That was good. Seokmin was doing well too. He just wished, sometimes, that he could tell Minghao that.

******

Seokmin was out for drinks with Jeonghan and Mingyu and Seungcheol on a random Wednesday night at the end of April when he finally heard from Minghao again. They’d drank a little more than they usually would on a weekday. Just one of those nights where everything clicked and they all felt good, high on their friendship and the vibes of the night. After the third bar, Jeonghan pouted until Seungcheol picked him up to give him a piggyback to the bus stop. Seokmin and Mingyu were leaning on each other, laughing as Seungcheol whined and pretended to stagger under his weight, when Seokmin’ phone buzzed. It took him a few hazy seconds to realize that it was the notification pattern he’d assigned to WeChat.

It was a video from Minghao. He stopped dead in the middle of the street, staring at his phone. Mingyu stumbled past him, then stopped. “What’s up?”

“It’s Minghao.” Seokmin said. It was hard to tell anything from the preview. Just Minghao, sitting in front of a white wall. Underneath, there was a simple message. _Please watch_. He didn’t know what to do with it. 

“Hey, are you coming or what?” Seungcheol called, jogging back to them. Jeonghan was off his back and walking behind him, a little slower. 

“Yeah, sorry. I just got--” Seokmin held up his phone. “It’s Minghao.”

“Oh shit,” Seungcheol said, startled. He leaned into Seokmin, part support part being nosy. “Well, are you gonna open it?” 

Seokmin was tired and his mouth was dry and he was starting to get a headache and the early spring wind felt like it was cutting through his jacket. He put his phone away. “I’ll watch it at home,” he said slowly. “I think I need to be alone when I do.” 

“Hey,” Mingyu said, bumping his shoulder. “Why don’t we get a cab home, okay? My treat.” 

Seokmin was grateful for that; he didn’t really want to face a bus full of strangers right now. In the cab, Mingyu kept up a little conversation about his family’s dog and a new bingsu place he’d tried last week, and didn’t seem to expect Seokmin to answer him. Once he got home, the urge to open the video right there in the entryway was intense, but he managed to wait until he’d showered and settled into bed before pushing play. 

The video took a second to load, then it started up. Seokmin wasn’t proud of the tiny noise he made, seeing Minghao sitting there and looking right at him. He was wearing what looked like the remnants of the day’s makeup and a plain black t-shirt. He looked soft and touchable and Seokmin’s heart ached. 

“Seokmin-ah,” Minghao started, his voice almost too quiet for Seokmin to make out. “I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it: I miss you.” 

Seokmin’s breath caught in his throat. 

“I’ve missed you this whole time. I have so many regrets about how this worked out.” Here, Minghao winced. “Well, I don’t think I would have made a different choice. But I regret not getting a chance with you. So. Here is the thing.” He paused, and shifted in his seat, which let Seokmin see the top of his pajama-clad leg. Ready for bed, then. Seokmin found that so adorable that he almost teared up. God. He was kicking himself so hard for being a smitten mess that he almost missed the next part. “I’m coming to Seoul in two weeks, on the 13th. The company is lending me to Pledis to mentor their next round of trainees and to give both of us a publicity boost. I’ll be there for a year. I was hoping…” Minghao swallowed, and raised his eyes to meet Seokmin’s. “Maybe we could meet? Give it another try? I know I’m the one who ended it, but that was before I knew I was coming to Korea. It was never about--” he shifted, looking uncomfortable. Seokmin could barely hear him, the blood was rushing in his ears so loudly. His heart was pounding. “It was never about you, or how I felt about you.” 

Seokmin’s hand started shaking and his phone almost slipped out of his grasp. Minghao continued. “Just let me know if you want to get together. If not, I understand. But if you do, I’m flying in on the 13th and I have a day off on the 15th. I’d like to spend it with you.” Minghao ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not sure how to end this. Um. Bye.” He waved, more awkward than Seokmin had ever remembered seeing him, and the video ended. 

He didn’t hesitate, his fingers moving fast over the keyboard. _I miss you too. I want to see you._

Typing bubbles appeared, and Seokmin held his breath.

A string of smiley emojis, then heart emojis. 

Seokmin sent some hearts back, then burst out laughing, falling back on the bed. Minghao was coming here. _Here_ , to Seoul. Here, to see Seokmin. He had to tell Mingyu. 

Jumping up from the bed, nearly falling over his own feet, he rushed for his bedroom door and pulled it open, and ran directly into Mingyu’s chest. 

“I wasn’t eavesdropping!” Mingyu said quickly, putting his hands up. “I was just walking really slowly past your room.”

Seokmin rolled his eyes, but he didn’t really care. “Well, did you walk slowly enough to hear that Minghao is coming to Seoul? For a year? And he wants to meet?”

“What? No! Your humidifier was too loud! I couldn’t hear shit! Oh my god!” Mingyu yelled, picking Seokmin up in a big hug. “I’m so excited for you, dude!”

“We’re meeting on the 15th,” Seokmin said, smiling into his shoulder. “It doesn’t feel real.”

“Well it’s real,” Mingyu said. “And he’s like, a celebrity and shit so you better get a haircut and do some face masks before then. I’m saying this as your friend.” 

“I’m on it.” Seokmin saluted him. “But first I think I need some sleep.” The adrenaline was starting to drain out of him and the sun was starting to peek in around the corners of the living room window. 

“Okay, good night, you hot shit,” Mingyu said, high fiving him. “See you in the morning.”

Before he went to bed, Seokmin _did_ do a face mask, and updated Jeonghan, who he knew was already sleeping. 

Now the question was: How could he possibly wait another two weeks?

*****

_where do you want to meet?_

It shouldn’t have been such a hard decision, but it was. Meet in public, in a crowded coffee shop where he’d have to control his emotions? Meet at Minghao’s hotel room (awkward) or Seokmin’s house (too intimate)? It was a tough call to make. 

Ultimately, the weather decided for him. Spring suddenly burst into Seoul with warm breezes, sunshine, and an explosion of cherry blossoms. _Namsan Park_ , he wrote back. _the cherry blossom path. Meet you at the cable car entrance?_

Minghao sent back a thumbs up, and that was it. 

*****

Seokmin’s dreams of a drama-perfect romantic meeting were threatened by low, concerningly gray clouds hanging over Seoul. It wasn’t raining, but occasionally the clouds would spit weak spatters of drizzle on Seokmin as he rushed for the train. He thanked everything that he’d decided to wear a beanie, or his hair would be a mess. 

The train was packed; Seokmin ended up standing pressed against an elderly woman, who he kept apologizing to every time he bumped into her, and a stocky dad who was trying unsuccessfully to corral three excitable kids. Seokmin made silly faces at the kids the whole ride, and ended up with one of them clinging to his leg as the train pulled in to the station. 

“Thank you,” the dad said, as he gently pulled his daughter off Seokmin. Seokmin smiled and said it wasn’t a problem, and oh god. Oh god. He was here now. The distraction of the kids was gone and it was just him, stepping out of Myeongdong Station and almost directly into a cluster of tourists. He hoped he hadn’t screwed up by bringing Minghao to such a busy, crowded place, but Minghao wasn’t as famous here as he was in China, and there would be so much going on around them that nobody would be paying attention to two guys walking and talking. 

He hadn’t been nervous this morning, just excited, bouncing around as he got dressed and singing loud enough that Mingyu had thrown a shoe at him. But now the anxiety started to seep in, chilling his bones. What if it was awkward? What if it was weird? What if he’d built it all up in his head and it really was some silly summer fling? 

_At least I’ll know_ , he told himself. _And then I can move on._

It was only about a 15 minute walk to the park entrance, but it seemed to go by in a flash. And Seokmin was right: Despite the questionable weather, the cable car area was packed. There was an idol group dressed in animal costumes filming something that had attracted a small crowd of fans and gawkers. A folk trio was busking in another area, attracting a different kind of crowd. Families, tourists, and vendors all filled the park, and there was a long line for the cable cars already. Seokmin scanned around him, looking for Minghao. He should have been more specific, he realized, kicking himself. How the hell were they going to find each other?

His phone buzzed in his hand. Seokmin looked down. _behind you_ He whirled around and-- oh. There he was. Minghao, wearing a long, expensive-looking wool coat. His hair had been dyed a warm chestnut and it looked amazing, even in the drizzle. He looked as intimidating and beautiful as he had the day he’d swept into Seokmin’s dance class and Seokmin almost stumbled under the force of his feelings. “Uh,” he said, which was also not what he had imagined in his romance drama fantasies. 

“Hi,” Minghao said. He had his hands shoved hard into his coat pockets, like maybe he was nervous too. “It’s good to see you.” 

“I can’t believe you’re here.” Seokmin looked around, because it was hard to look at Minghao without letting everything he was feeling show on his face. “Want to get out of here? To one of the smaller trails? They should be quieter.”

Minghao nodded and they broke off onto a side trail, then another one. “The cherry blossom path is in a different area, but that part is more crowded. Which isn’t really what we want, I guess, if we need to talk. We can go there after? If you want to?” Seokmin babbled nervously. The noise of the crowd was a distant hum, muffled by the trees around them. The low clouds were starting to burn away and suddenly, Seokmin was sweating under his beanie. 

“Hey,” Minghao said, reaching out to gently touch Seokmin’s elbow. Seokmin stopped and turned to look at him. “I’m not here to see the cherry blossoms. I’m here to see you.” He was smiling, looking shy, even though he was here in his expensive coat and Seokmin was in his sweaty, sweaty beanie.

“I missed you so much,” Seokmin blurted out. “Even though it was stupid. My friends were nice about it, but they thought it was stupid too. I didn’t-- I’m not naive, I didn’t think there was a chance in hell, but you weren’t just a summer fling. I-- you-- you were special.”

“I don’t want to be your summer fling,’ Minghao said, moving closer. He rested his hand on Seokmin’s cheek. “I think you’re special too. We had something good, even though it was short. And hey,” he said, flicking Seokmin’s nose. Seokmin flinched back, laughing, but Minghao pulled him in again. “Stop confessing, I’m the one who broke it off, I wanted to confess.” 

“Okay,” Seokmin said, laughing. “Confess then.” 

“Ahem. Well. Like I was _saying_ , I miss you too. And I want to see you again, for real this time. I want to take you on dates and meet your friends and kiss you. I want to show you that I’m serious.” He stepped back, but took both of Seokmin’s hands in his. He looked serious. “Even though I’m still really busy. And getting out is difficult for me. And we’ll have to be very careful about rumors.” 

“I already thought about that,” Seokmin said quietly. “I’m not that out anyway, just to my closest friends and my noona.” 

“I’d like to meet her too,” Minghao said, smiling. “If that’s okay with you.”

Seokmin stepped closer, pulling Minghao in by his hands, grinned, then stepped back, did a little footwork, and arched his back, a little piece of their routine. Minghao caught on right away, pulled him in, spun him, as if there was an invisible length of fabric connecting them, dipped him down, and kissed him. Seokmin gasped in surprise, then let himself sink into it, chasing his mouth as Minghao straightened back up, pulling Seokmin with him. 

“You remembered,” Minghao said, looking touched. 

“Haven’t missed a step.” Seokmin felt like he was exploding with happiness from the inside. He could dance forever. He could dance on the moon, if someone asked.

“We’ll see about that,” Minghao said, holding out his hand. “We have to be careful, but there are discreet places. Jackson knows some. Can I take you dancing?”

“I’ll always dance with you,” Seokmin said, taking his hand. Minghao kissed it, and Seokmin shivered in delight.

“Will you dance with me…” Minghao said slowly, dropping Seokmin’s hand and backing away, “..on the top of the mountain?” He let out a whoop and started running down the trail. “Race you!”

“Hey!” Seokmin yelled staggering after him as he pulled off his hoodie. “Hey it’s-- oh that’s it.” He took off at a run, chasing after Minghao, who was running and cracking up so hard he could barely breathe. 

They didn’t make it to the top of the mountain, but when Seokmin finally caught him, both of them gasping and holding each other up, it felt, a little bit, like they were in the ocean again, swaying together, set apart from the world. _This_ , Seokmin thought, as he pulled Minghao in for a messy, sweaty kiss, was worth waiting for. He had no idea what the future would bring for them, but at least now? They had a chance to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who stuck with me through slow updates, this one really got away from me. Thank you again to everyone who took the time to read this!

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from _Love is Strange_ by Mickey and Sylvia, off the original Dirty Dancing soundtrack.


End file.
